A Bloodied Goddess
by Trail of Spores
Summary: With her contract fulfilled, The Good Hunter submits her life to Gehrman, and awakes in a forest. She finds that this world still has beasts, but not the kind she was used to fighting. And even worse, The Good Hunter finds that a Goddess of the land by the name of Neptune went missing over a year ago... But why do they look the same?
1. A Bloodied Goddess

**The Good Hunter's equipment**

 **Weapon: Rakuyo**

 **Firearm: Hunter's Pistol**

 **Armor: Modified Yahar'Gul set. Helmet is removed and only the hood remains. The hood has been elongated and conceals most of the face**.

"Gehrman awaits you. At the foot of the Great Tree." The Doll said without a trace of emotion.

The Good Hunter shrugged, it wasn't as if that was anything new, but she thought that maybe they could say 'Good luck,' or something. Regardless, The Good Hunter turns around and begins to walk down the path leading to the tree, blowing a purple bang out of her face. They constantly got in her face during battles, and it was annoying, but she kept them as they were there when she woke up here. She didn't remember anything after she woke up in the dream, but that was to be expected.

She entered the breathtaking field of flowers. She used to come here fairly often, when she was new here. She used to be unable to handle the hunt, and the blood. She used to cry here, but it made her stronger. She wasn't the scared, weak person she was when she first arrived. She was a seasoned Hunter, with the smell to match. She reeked of Blood and Innards, which she was pretty sure were currently on her coat, but she had come to embrace it. After all, what was a Hunt without bloodshed?

As she approached Gehrman, she grabbed something from her pouch. She looked down at the item, which was a brightly colored plus sign. Even through all of the dust, blood and grime, the colors of white and purple could still be seen. The item used to be attached to her hair, like the other was currently. However, during a fall she had landed on the item, which damaged it and made the act of fastening it to her equally vibrant hair impossible.

She made that Beast pay.

It was one of the few things she began with, as she woke up otherwise completely naked and without a weapon. As such, she cherished the two pins greatly. She passed a light smile to the item, before gently placing it back in it's pouch. She approached Gehrman, and sighed. She felt like she knew what was about to happen. 'How many times has he done this?' Wondered The Good Hunter.

"Good Hunter, you've done well, the night is near its end. Now, I will show you mercy. You will die, forget the dream, and awake under the morning sun. You will be freed from this terrible Hunter's Dream." Said Gehrman in his comforting accent.

Freed from the dream? She thought for a moment. What was the world like, outside of the Hunt? She couldn't remember, but perhaps that was why it was so tempting. It also seemed like the only logical option. Why would she stay here? She had done her job. There was nothing for her in this dream. There was no reason for her to not do this.

She looked around the Dream one last time. The burning shop, where she had refined her weapons. The Doll, who had offered endless help and support, and this very garden. Where she often wept.

She turned to Gehrman, and offered a silent nod. She turns to face the garden, and gets on her knees. Closing her eyes, she hears Gehrman stand and draw his weapon.

"Farewell, my keen hunter. Fear the blood."

She listened to his parting words, and waited calmly. It didn't take long before she felt the cold steel of Gehrmans blade slicing through her neck. She was free...

 **Line Break**

"Uurrghhh..." The Good Hunter groaned as she opened her eyes. She was met with a blinding, beating sun and was forced to cover her eyes with her right arm for a moment. It took some time, but she eventually became accustomed to the light, and opened her eyes. She seemed to be in a forest, and was currently laying in a small clearing. She shakily stood, holding her head. She felt that her hood was still on, and looking at her body, she realized she still wore the attire she wore during the Hunt. She also noticed her Rakuyo and Hunter's Pistol were on the ground next to her. Walking over to her weapons, she retrieves them and places them in their holding places. Looking around, the Hunter breathes in the air. It smells clean and fresh, which was... somewhat jarring, after being so used to the smell of blood and decay, she was not used to this smell. Despite this, it did make her feel good.

She sighs, and pulls her hood back. Her hair falls out, and finally gets to breathe.

The girl looked young. No older than 16. Her once fair skin was now dirty, and had specks of dried blood on it. Her hair was a vibrant purple, and seemed to be the cleanest part of her body, considering there were only a few specks of dirt in it. There was also the other plus pin attached to her right bang. It was covered in dried blood, but she didn't mind.

'Well... I suppose I shouldn't waste my time here.' Thought The Good Hunter as she pulled her hood over her face. She then realized she had no idea of where to go, and settled on picking a direction and walking.

 **One hour later...**

She seemed to make a good choice in terms of direction, as she soon managed to find a rather large clearing with signs of civilization in the forms of an arch and a bridge.

'Odd... Why does this look so familiar?' she thought to herself. She stepped off from her elevated position, and fell the short distance to the level that led to the bridge. She stood and began making her way over to the bridge when she heard a strange, almost...jiggly sound. Turning to it, she was met with something that both shocked and confused her.

It was a... Beast? There was nothing else it could be, but this one was quite odd. It had the visage of a dog, but not like the ones she had fought in Yharnam. It seemed... happy. That wasn't the only thing. It jiggled and bounced around as if it was made of jelly, and it's coloration was a slightly transparent blue. It also didn't reek of blood like a Beast should have, because if it did, she would have smelled it before she saw it. Despite all of this, it was clearly a Beast. Why was a Beast here? Was she still in the Dream? Was this all some sick joke by the Old Ones? Her grip tightened around her Rakuyo and she gritted her teeth in anger. She suddenly heard an alarm, and the blue Beast made it's way towards her. She wasted absolutely no time.

She swiftly lunged at the Beast and plunged her blade right through it and into the ground behind it, trapping it with a shocked and scared expression, as if it wasn't expecting her to attack then. Regardless, that expression was gone in the next few moments after The Good Hunter brought her boot down on the thing, splattering it all over the ground. Fairly certain that the thing was dead, she pulled her weapon from the ground when the remains of the thing began to glow. She retreated a short distance, readying her weapons. But she would find that there was no reason to, as she watched the Beast... Explode into many crystalline hexagons.

She stood there for a moment. No Beast had ever done that before, they usually dropped dead in a bleeding heap. Brushing a bang out of her face, she cautiously approached the area where the beast once was, and found nothing that would indicate that it ever existed. It was as if it was never even there. Moving back, she noticed something flying over her. Readying her weapons in case of Beasts, she realized that the four figures flying over her had either not noticed her, or completely ignored her. She couldnt make their exact features out very well from here, but She could tell this much.

They were Human, or at least Human shaped. She was leaning towards it being a disguise, as no Human could fly. They all wore very vibrant colors and most had a strangely large chest. The biggest one had long, flowing green hair and wings sprouting from her back that were just as vibrant. The wings made her frown, could they be Beasts?

The second had long, snow white hair and black clothing, and had wings similar to the first. The third was quite short, and had angular wings like the rest. The last one was different, however. Overall, she was smaller than the others. Skinnier. Her wings were also more rounded and did not have any angles. Her hair was flowing and pink.

Whatever they were, they flew above the forest canopy and paid her no mind. Which suited her just fine. She made to cross the bridge, encountering more of the blue dogs which she ruthlessly slaughtered. 'These Beasts certainly aren't very intimidating...' She thought as she sent her boot through the second to last of the blue dogs, causing it to shatter like all the others. These 'Beasts' weren't worth her blade. They hadn't even landed a single hit on her, as they all dumbly jumped forward into her attacks. It's like they dont know how to react to a sudden assault. She sneered at the last, retreating dog before she raised her pistol and sent a silver bullet flying to it, penetrating it's body with ease.

'They don't even bleed...' She thought as she saw it shatter into the shining blue shapes. 'I need to get out of this forest...' She thought to herself, as she made her way to the arch.

 **Line Break**

Nepgear followed the three goddesses closely. The past year and a half hadn't been easy for her, but things were getting better. Her shares were increasing and she was regaining the faith of the people. After Neptune...Dissapeared? Died? She didn't know. It was hard. If it wasn't for the goddesses and her friends being there for her through thick and thin, she would have given up. But now she was being rewarded for her hard work. Vert had invited her to play games with the other goddesses, and because her work schedule wasn't as crammed as it used to be, she could actually do it. And that made her the happiest that she had been in some time.

It had been a while since she had flown over Virtua Forest, and she forgot how pretty it was from the sky. Looking down at the forest, she was too captivated by it's beauty to notice a dark, cloaked figure looking up at the four. Looking forward, she smiled. After a year of gloom, things were finally looking up.

Suddenly, Lady Green Heart, or Vert, looked back to her with the sweetest smile on her face.

"Nepgear, I know it's been a while since we last spoke, and I wanted to ask if you are OK? Work isn't stressing you to much?"

She laughed lightly, before responding.

"Vert, I'm telling you I'm fine. Work is laying on me, yeah. But it's nowhere near as bad as it used to be. It's manageable and im doing fine."

Vert silently smiled and nodded, before turning forward again. When Neptune left, Vert was the first to step up and help her. After all, Vert saw Nepgear as a little sister, and Nepgear thought it felt nice to have an older sister again. Still... Neptune leaving put a hole in her heart that would never fully close.

 **Line Break**

"Woah..." She said as she stepped out onto the vast plain. She had never seen anything like this before, and very few things had caused her to verbally express her amazement. Her voice was quiet, and sounded young. She was capable of raising her voice, she just didn't do it often. She didn't speak much at all, really. Not a lot of people to speak to aside from the Doll and the few sane Hunters she met in Yharnam.

Regardless, the sight before her was one you would never see in Yharnam, and probably not even in the Dream. The only sight she had to compare this to would be the flower field in the Dream, and that was leagues above this. That place was special to her. Despite that, it was still beautiful. The grass seemed to be just right length, with flowers dotting the field with many varieties and colors. There were also beautiful white, puffy clouds and a blue sky. This landscape was amazing. But that wasn't the only thing. In the distance, there was a city. It was big and imposing, and she could see the vibrant colors from here. At the center of it, she could see a large tower. With nowhere else to go, She takes the first step on her journey to the city.

Her walk was immensely peaceful, which she wasn't at all used to. She even pulled her hood down to let her hair get some air once she was certain she was alone. It felt nice, her purple hair blowing in the wind, despite it being somewhat short. She breathed in the air, noticing the new sweet smell it had taken on. It was jarring, but... calming. She smiled as she silently walked towards the tower. However, she was taken out of her happy state when she heard rustling from the treeline to her right. She frowned, pulling her hood over her face and readying her weapons. That's when she heard talking.

"Iffy, come ooonnnn, my legs hurt!" said an unknown voice. It was light and sounded fairly innocent.

"We just have one more quest, Compa. We can go back after we do it." Said another voice. This one was deeper and had a more commanding tone, but still sounded somewhat friendly. The Good Hunter stood there, her stance easing ever so slightly at hearing the voices. She waited until the two voices exited the forest, wearing outfits that she personally found to be odd.

One of the two wore a thick, white wool sweater along with a skirt and leggings. Her hair was long, but the color of her hair was beyond her. It looked somewhat orange, but that didn't seem right. The other girl wore a long, unzipped blue coat with a black undershirt. Her hair was long and brown, and she seemed to wear two leaves in her hair. An odd accessory, but it looked nice. As they exited, their gazes both landed on the Hunter. The one in the coat narrows her eyes and gets in a somewhat defensive stance, while the other one with the odd hair tilts her head.

"Iffy, why is that person wearing such strange clothes?" Asked the one with the strange hair. I couldnt help but smirk at that after seeing their clothing.

The brown haired one turned to her companion. "Compa, that's rude. Even though I wont blame you for asking that." The other one whispered, although her battles as a Hunter had improved her senses, including her hearing. The brown haired one turned back to The Good Hunter. "Um, hello there. You out questing too?" She asked. Questing? She was just trying to get to the city. She shook her head in response, and replied "Just making my way to the city." She said, pointing her weapon towards it, before placing it back in it's sheath, the dagger pointing outward for quick access in a sticky situation.

They both gave The Good Hunter a puzzled look as she said that, but she paid it no mind. The one with strange hair began to walk over to The Good Hunter, at which they tensed up a bit and moved their hand over the dagger, which didn't go unnoticed.

"Hey, you can calm down. We aren't gonna hurt you, uh..."

"My name doesn't matter to you right now." She said with a slight edge to her voice, and they both recoiled. She had said that partly because they had no reason to know her name, and because she didn't remember it. The Dream tends to screw with your memories. However, she moved her hand away from her weapon.

"Um, okay then... Im Compa." Said the one with strange hair. Compa began to walk over to The Good Hunter, despite the other one shooting her a glare that yelled 'Dont you do it missy!'. However, once she got closer to the Hunter, she stopped for a moment. She seemed to be sniffing something, before her face scrunched up and she pinches her nose shut.

"My goodness! You're smelly!" Exclaimed Compa as she retreated to a safer distance, earning a scolding look from the other.

"Compa! That was really rude." Said the other one as she began to walk up to the Hunter. "Im sorry about that, she can be a bit of an airhead someti-" She suddenly stopped as she got closer. She then plugged her nose and began to back away. "Okay, she may have been rude, but she wasn't lying. When was the last time you bathed?!" Asked the woman. That was something she didn't even have to think about. She knew she didn't bathe once during her entire hunt, unless you count the blood of Beasts. So she shrugged and responded. "I don't know."

They both seemed to be shocked by this, and Compa stepped up. "What do you mean? Doesn't your home have a shower?" She asked. The Good Hunter sighed, and spoke. "I am not fortunate enough to have a residence." She deadpanned, earning sad eyes from the one in the blue coat and a gasp from Compa.

"Y-You're homeless?" Asked Compa, sadness lacing her voice. To The Good Hunter, It didn't seem like that big of a deal. "I suppose I am, yes." Compa's eyes began to slightly water, before she turned to the other.

"Iffy, can we please take this girl back to my home just for one night?" Compa asked. Iffy was the other ones name, then?

"What? Compa, no. If they've made it this far on their own, they can keep going. Besides, accommodating for another person, a total stranger as well, for just one night, could seriously mess with our plans!" she reasoned.

"But Iffy, they need help! Look at the state they are in! They stink and have no home!"

"I understand that, but you have to unders-" She was cut off by... something. She started to blush slightly as Compa looked at her, and Iffy began to shake her head. "No, you're not getting me with that again." She stated, to which The Good Hunter squinted and tilted their head. Was she using some sort of intimidation tactic?

"Buuuutttt Iiiifffffyyyyy!" She said quietly.

She would have left the two just then if it weren't for an all too familiar sound. The bouncing of one of those blue dogs. The two others seemed too wrapped up in what they were doing, so they didnt notice when two of the Beasts emerged from the forest. The Good Hunter instinctively drew her weapons and dashed over to the pair, much to their sudden confusion and distress. Before they could register what was happening, she was upon the Beasts in moments. Wasting not a second, she brutally and efficiently dealt with them by stabbing the first directly in the face with the large blade of the Rakuyo, before removing the dagger from it and slamming it into the second Beast in one swift motion. By the time they had both shattered, she had already returned the dagger blade to the other half. The Good Hunter then turned to face the other two, who were still registering what had happened.

"That.. Was... Amazing!" Compa exclaimed as she kept her nose plugged. She turned to Iffy and began to beg again. "They just saved us! Come on, you gotta!" Iffy seemed as if she was losing heart, and she eventually sighed.

"Fine. She can bunk at our place for a night. She can wash herself, eat dinner and breakfast, and leave." Said Iffy, before turning to The Good Hunter as she sheathed her Rakuyo. "Unless you already had plans?" She asked, hope in her eyes. The Good Hunter shook their head no, and she spoke. "However, I request complete privacy unless I say otherwise while I am there." The Hunter more demanded then asked, which earned them a suspicious look, followed by a nod and a "Mhm!" from Iffy and Compa respectively. And with that, Iffy began to walk with Compa in tow. The Good Hunter sighed, not expecting for this to have happened. But, realizing how hungry she was and how she was no longer bound to the Dream, she would not pass up free food. So she began to follow the pair, blowing a purple bang out of her face as she followed.

 **Line Break**

The silver lining was that this place was close to the city.

Compa's house was almost nauseating. There was so much color that The Good Hunter wasn't used to, so it messed with her head. Not to mention the giant needle in the corner made her shiver slightly. Iffy went over to a table and pulled a chair, sitting on it as she pulled a strange device from a pouch on her coat. Compa on the other hand suddenly and forcefully grabs her by the shoulder and drags her off to another room. This irritated the Hunter, but she brushed it off for now, as these two were letting her rest in their home. Suddenly, she found herself in what looked to be a bathroom.

"Now, first things first, you need to get clean!" Compa then left the room, closing the door. behind her. "Just come out when you're done!" She said.

The Good Hunter stood there for a moment, looking around the room. She noticed a tub with a showerhead, and approached it. Placing her weapons on a nearby counter, she stepped in front of the tub, which was somewhat concealed due to the curtains, which were brightly colored like everything else in this place. Opening the curtains fully, she was able to step inside. She didn't bother taking her clothes off, because if they were complaining about the smell, they would be surprised to know that it mostly came from the blood and gore on her clothes. She was thankful that the Yahar'Gul robes kept it mostly hidden, but one with a keen eye would notice. Turning the knob, she felt the cold water hit her clothing. She shivered slightly, but did nothing else. As long as it got her clothing clean, it didn't matter the temperature of the water. For a while, she stood under the showerhead and lightly brushed her clothing, watching as the liquid turned red as it hit the floor, the result of the blood being mixed with the water. After some time, she noticed the water had turned quite hot, but it wasn't nearly as bad as some of the burns she had sustained on the Hunt, so she ignored it. Eventually, she noticed how the water was no longer flowing down the drain, and kneeled down to inspect it. She was met with bits of flesh and organs clogging it up, to which she pulls out with an annoyed sigh, tossing them into a bin across the room.

It took her some time to notice, but the smell on her clothes was still present. Looking around the shower, she noticed a small group of bottles in the corner. Picking one up, she realized there was a label on it. On the bottle was the word Swan, with a picture of a bird below it. Below that, it read deep moisture. She removed the cap of the bottle by twisting it until it came off, and she began to pour it on her clothes, scrubbing it in. It seemed to work, as she saw more blood get extracted from her clothing, and eventually the smell dissapeared. Putting the cap back on the bottle. She turns the knob all the way to the right, cutting off the water. She steps out of the shower, not caring that she us dripping water all over the floor as she makes her way over to a towel. As she tries to dry her clothes, she notices a strange object on the counter next to her weapons. Approaching it, she notices a switch on it's side. Flipping it, the device activates and starts to spin around, sending cold air at her. She defensively backs up at first, but realizes it is not a threat after a few seconds. She slowly walks over to the fan, feeling the air hit her. Suddenly, she gets an idea. Standing in front of the fan, she begins to more thoroughly dry herself off. While not completely dry, and admittedly somewhat cold, it was better than what she would have been without it. She deactivates the machine, and grabs her weapons, placing the weapons in their holster and sheath. Stepping to the door, she exits the room. As she closes the door behind her, and steps into the kitchen. She hears odd noises coming from another room. Hovering her hands over her weapons, she entered the room to see Compa and Iffy sitting on the floor in front of a strange square that had a moving image on it. In front of it was a strange, cubic device. They were both talking rather loudly, and held strange things in their hand. They did not seem to notice the Hunter, so she silently walked over to a sofa behind the two, intently watching the changing pictures on the large device. 'What sort of arcane device is this?' She thought as she sat down and watched.

The pictures seemed to depict two very musclebound, flat men walking forward and backward across a field, hitting eachother and performing impressive athletic feats, although the Hunter was sure she could do better. The two girls held these devices in their hands, and seemed to be roughly moving two sticks and constantly pressing buttons. What was the purpose of treating such strange objects so roughly? Then, she looked at the box. It was white and purple like her pins and the city, and had a large N symbol...

'Ugh... Why does my head hurt?' She thought as she looked at the symbol. It looked so damn familiar, and yet she was almost certain she had never seen it before. Suddenly, something... clicked in her mind. She wasn't sure what it was, but when she looked at the device on the wall now, she was somehow able to name it

"Television...?" She said out loud, and within earshot of the two girls. Compa jumped at the sound, and one of the characters on the television stopped moving, which let the other deliver a brutal punch to the face, which resulted in big, red words appearing on the screen.

"K.O!" The television said.

The two girls turned to look at The Good Hunter, who simply sat there and looked at the TV. Iffy then spoke.

"Well, looks like you finally finished in there. That was one of the longest showers I have ever seen somebody take." She said with a smirk. The Good Hunter shrugged, how was she supposed to know how long showers were supposed to take? Compa then smiled sweetly at her, which disturbed the Hunter a bit.

"Do you want to play?" Asked the girl, handing her one of the things she was holding. The Good Hunter tilted her head at this. "Play?... Play what?" She asked. Now it was Compa who looked confused. "Um... Video games? You know, the thing that was just on the TV?" She said with a joking tone, assuming the Hunter was toying with her.

"Im afraid im not familiar with the term..." She said, earning wide eyes from Compa. Iffy did not seem to notice, as she was engaged on one of those small devices.

"How do you not know what video games are? They are one of the biggest things in Gameindustri!" Exclaimed the girl. Gameindustri? Could that be the name of this land? Before she could respond, the girl grabbed the device at Iffy's feet and dropped it in the Hunters hands, much to the girls confusion. "This is called a controller. You use it to... control your character." She explained with determined eyes. Controller, another one of those words that sounded so familiar, yet so new. Compa then sat next to her, and pointed at the various things on the controller.

"You use this to move, this button is light attack, and this one is heavy attack..." She went on for some time, explaining how to use the controller. "Do you get it?" She asked, to which The Good Hunter nodded. She smiled, and used her controller to turn the screen into one with many small boxes with faces on them. "This is where you can pick your chatacter!" Stated Compa, as she moves an arrow over her chatacter of choice. Locking in her decision, she waited for The Good Hunter to choose. She put her thumb on the stick like Compa had, and the second arrow on the screen moved with it. She stared in awe at this marvel of technology for a moment, before she moved her arrow of a character by the name of Lyu. She felt a strange force compelling her to choose him, and so she did. Compa suddenly wore a somber smile. "Lyu, huh. He was always Nep-Nep's favorite character." She sadly stated. Was this Nep Nep someone she had lost?

She didn't have time to think on it as the characters were transferred to a boardwalk stage. A voice with no body counted down, and then the big red words "Fight!" appeared on the screen.

Suddenly, The Good Hunter began to play as if she had been doing it her entire life.

She didn't know how or why she knew how to play like this, but she was winning. Compa had barely managed to get a few hits in. It was like this character had been made just for her, and she was 'combo'ing' as Compa put it, like she had read his 'moveset' twenty times in a row. It felt like muscle memory to her, which she found exceedingly strange. It didn't take long for her to wipe the floor with Compa, winning both rounds.

"Wow, you're really good at this!" She exclaimed, a smile on her face. "You sure you dont know what video games are?" She asked.

"No... Must be beginners luck." The Good Hunter responded, earning a teasing look from Compa.

"Suuuuuureeeee." She said, before standing up. "Well, im going to make dinner." She happily said, before leaving the room. The Good Hunter stood up, and examined the room. Iffy was sitting on a chair in the corner, looking at that same device. She walked over to her, and inspected it curiously. Kneeling down to get a better look, she spoke.

"What is that..." She asked, causing the girl in blue to jump in her seat. After quickly composing herself, she looked at The Good Hunter, before responding.

"Sheesh, that hood makes you look real creepy. Mind taking it off?" She replied. The Good Hunter looked down, before responding with "...I dont like to show my face to people." Which earned a sigh from Iffy. "Fine, I'll respect your privacy for now. As for your question, are you joking with me?" She asked, sounding convinced she was right. The Good Hunter simply shook her head, to which Iffy sighed. "This is a cell phone. It allows people to communicate over long distances, among other things." She explained. Communication over long distances? Did this device remove the need of writing letters?

"Im kind of surprised you dont have one, most people do now. Can you not afford one or something?" Iffy asked. The Good Hunter then realized she did not have any currency. In the dream, the closest thing to that were Blood echoes, but they most likely didnt take those here.

"No, I do not have the currency required." The Good Hunter replied. Iffy tilted her head, and responded. "Odd way of speaking aside, you could probably make enough money by doing quests. And judging from your appearance and how you took on those Dogoos back there, I'd say you're capable of doing the job. Monsters will always be an issue, and the less there are, the better."

'Dogoos? Those probably were the blue Beasts I came across earlier.' The Good Hunter thought. And monsters? She had never heard the Beast called that before, but she understood what she meant.

"Very well... A Hunter must hunt, after all." She said coldly, and she could see Iffy shiver as she turned away. That's when she noticed a rather large photograph on the wall. Walking over to it, she noticed ot was a group photo. There were many people in it, all with vibrant hair and varying chest sizes, but one person made The Good Hunter's blood run cold.

At the very center of the group, was a young girl with the same, purple hair as her and the same pins as her.

'...What is this?' The Good Hunter asked mentally. Suddenly, she felt her head pounding. And she was seeing grainy, black and white images flash before her eyes. A single word rang in her ears.

"Neptune."

She shook her head violently, which brought The Good Hunter back to reality She looked to Iffy, and spoke. "Who is this?" Asked The Good Hunter, pointing to the girl. Iffy looked up and to the picture, her expression softening. She stood and walked over.

"Seriously? That is Neptune. She used to be the Goddess of Planeptune, until she dissapeared a year or so back. Hit all of us hard, especially Gearsy..." She said with a sad tone. "Damnit, im sad again. Im gonna go see if Compa is done yet." Iffy stated, walking out of the room.

The Good Hunter watched her walk out, before fishing through a pouch and pulling out the broken hairpin. She put it up to the picture, and her suspicions were confirmed. They were the exact same.

The Good Hunter didn't know what to make of this. If she really was this Neptune person, why didn't she remember any of these people in the picture? There was always the chance that they were different people, but that seemed far too unlikely.

"Dinner is ready!" Compa yelled out of the kitchen. The Good Hunter, or possibly Neptune, swiftly stowed the pin in her pouch, and walked into the kitchen.

She had questions, but she felt the answers would find her eventually.

 **-End of Chapter One.**


	2. A Bloodied Goddess 2

**I would like to thank everyone who read the last chapter. I hope this one is just as good.**

The Good Hunter entered the kitchen to see Iffy sitting at the table, with Compa setting plates on the table. She moved to sit next to her hosts, when Compa passed a plate to her, along with a bottle of a strange brown liquid. On her plate was a flat, circle shaped item with a sweet smell permeating from it.

"Pancakes for dinner? Really?" Iffy said to Compa in an annoyed tone.

"It was late Iffy, and I wanted something quick to make." Compa reasoned. The Good Hunter didnt really care. To her, food was food and as long as it was edible, she was fine with it.

"Whatever." Iffy replied, before taking the brown bottle in front of The Good Hunter and pouring it's contents onto the pancakes. She passed the bottle to The Good Hunter, who picked it up and imitated her action. Once the pancakes had enough, she set the bottle down and picked up the silver fork next to the plate. Cutting a piece off, she pierced it with the fork and placed it in her mouth. The taste was incredibly sweet, and it made her salivate slightly. She had never tasted anything like this before. She began to eat faster, earning a look from Iffy.

"You should take your hood off, it's bad manners." She advised, and was promptly ignored by The Good Hunter. She heard a defeated sigh from the girl, before she saw her go back to eating. She cleaned her plate rather quickly, which gave Compa a happy smile.

"You sure finished fast! You must have been hungry, huh?" She asked.

"...Yes, it seems as if I was." replied the Hunter, slowly standing, while simultaneously picking up the dirty plate. "Where shall I put this?" She asked.

"Just put it in the sink, I'll wash it later." Said Compa, earning a nod, as The Good Hunter walked over to the sink, and placed it in.

"Well, I will excuse myself for the moment." Stated The Good Hunter, earning nods from the other girls as she returned to the living room, and stood in front of the picture again, eyes locked on Neptune. The girl looked exactly like her, she even had the same eyes. The more she looked, the more uneasy she felt. What was this place? Who were these people? They all looked so familiar, and yet she didn't know any of their names aside from Iffy and Compa, who were also in the picture. Were they really the same? It sounded impossible, but aside from the fact they looked identical, Iffy said that Neptune had dissapeared over a year ago. The Good Hunter woke up in the dream with no memory of what had happened before. There was also the fact everything felt so damn familiar in this place, but she couldn't figure out why.

The Good Hunter felt that it was pretty fair to assume at this point, and sighed.

She was likely this Neptune girl. The similarities were there and some things that made a lot of sense when she considered the idea. The problem was how she would keep a low profile. If any of the people in that picture found out who she was, it would make her life a lot more complicated, and she didn't need that. She stepped away from the picture, and sat on the sofa.

'I'll have to keep this under wraps for as long as possible.' She said. Hearing the sounds of footsteps enter the room, she turned to see Iffy and Compa enter the room. She frowns slightly, but lays face down on the bed.

"Turning in already? Won't get an argument from me." Said Iffy, followed by the sound of a door closing.

"Good night, new person!" Said Compa, followed by the light in the room dissapearing and a door closing.

Only if she could have a peaceful sleep.

The Good Hunter stared into the darkness for thirty minutes. Then an hour. An hour turned into two, which left The Hunter irritated and not even slightly tired. Why couldn't she sleep? She silently got up, her weapons still at her side. Looking at the clock in the room, it read 1:09 AM. She silently walked out of the living room and into the kitchen, which led to a door to the outside world.

'I'll be fine as long as I get back before they wake up.' She reasoned, and quietly opened the door, stepping outside. She looked at the forest ahead of her, and began to walk. After all, a Hunter must Hunt. And hopefully, tonight would be most fruitful. Stepping into the forest, she hoped there would be something that could give her a challenge.

 **Line Break**

So far, The Good Hunter had been terribly disappointed.

She had encountered more of these Dogoo Beasts, as well as another type of dog Beast that was green and shaped similarly to a cube. The weakness of the 'Beasts' disgusted her, and she was currently running her Rakuyo through another of the Dogoos. At first, the group of dogs seemed to be completely confused at the sight of The Hunter tearing through them, looking at her like she wasn't supposed to be doing that. They soon wizened up, however, and began to pile on to her. They didnt even manage to pierce her Yahar'Gul robe before she shook the things off. Turning, she saw the last two dogoos lunging at her. Amused, the girl stepped out of the way of the two dogs and slashed at them as they passed, easily cutting them in two. Watching as they both exploded into blue crystals, The Good Hunter sighed. She really needed a challenge. Walking onward, she didn't run into any of the Lesser Beasts for quite a while. This was an abrupt change of pace, as she felt as if she encountered a group of the things every two or three minutes before. Eventually, The Good Hunter found herself in a rather large clearing, with a beautiful view of the night sky, and the moon.

The Good Hunter admired the view for a few moments, before something started to happen. Something that made her blood really pump.

Something emerged from the forest in front of her. It was snarling, and big. The moonlight lit both of them up, and what she saw made her to most excited she had been since she got here. Approaching from her front was a large, blue wolf with golden claws. A large, furry mane covered it's neck and it looked at The Good Hunter with bloodthirst red eyes. Teeth bared, it growled as it approached her. The Good Hunter smiled as she split her Rakuyo. Finally, something that looked like a real Beast! Without warning, she lunged at the Beast. It's eyes widened at this, before it barely scrambled out of the way. The Good Hunter stops herself and swiftly turns to see the Beast pouncing on her. She quickly sidesteps the attack and slices into the hide of the Beast with her dagger as it passed, causing the same crystals to emanate from the wound. She smiled as the beast grunted in pain, but did not die. Good, she would be quite angry if this one died in a single hit like all the others. It lunged forward with it's golden claw, to which the Hunter leapt back to avoid, before suddenly leaning forward into a lunging stab directly into the mane of the beast. However, it seemed as if the mane of the creature was much thicker than she anticipated, as she barely pricked the skin underneath. The Beast then bit the Hunter by the torso, and threw her away, blood surging from the open wounds. Landing with a thud, the Hunter ignored the pain as she surged forward, dagger in hand. The Beast seemed surprised at her ignoring the pain, and could not react to the sudden assault in time. She plunged her dagger into the beast, completely burying the blade all the way up to the guard. The Beast let out a primal roar, before batting the Hunter away with a claw, the dagget still stuck in it's side. The Good Hunter's system flooded with adrenaline. Finally, a strong foe! She dove for the sword blade of her Rakuyo, grasping it in her right hand. She swiftly stood, and the large wolf was in a low stance, growling. She smirked, and she began running at the target, blade raised. Her foe let out a mighty howl, before it began to charge as well. The Good Hunter knew that whoever landed this blow would end this battle the victor, and that made her even more excited.

As the two got closer, the Wolf leapt, mouth wide open displaying it's teeth. It was expecting to land full force on her and bury it's teeth into her neck. Unfortunately for the Beast, that wouldnt happen. Just as the Beast was about to land on her, The Good Hunter slid under the Beast, She violently thrust her sword upward, and with the wolf flying forward and the hunter sliding the opposite direction, she was able to completely slice through the underbelly of the thing, blue hexagonal crystals raining on her. She brought her blade forward as she cut through the last of the Beast, and she swiftly stood and turned. She was impressed the see the Beast was still alive. Completely incapacitated and whimpering, but alive. She walked over to the Beast, forcefully pulling her dagger from it's side as she walked over to it's front. The Beast did not show a smidgen of fear, only hatred for it's killer in front of her. She slid the dagger into the hilt of the sword, and looked to the Beast. She pulled back her hood, and looked at the Beast. She smirked at the panicking thing, before beginning to speak.

"Let it be known that, out of all the pitiful Beasts I have crushed thus far, you were the most fun and challenging to slaughter." She said to the blue wolf, before raising her boot and slamming it on the head of the thing. Accompanied by an all too familiar crack, she removed her boot and watched as her now lifeless adversary began to glow, before shattering into hundreds of crystal hexagons. Satisfied, she deeply inhales and exhales, sheathing her weapon and looking at the rapidly dissipating shapes. While the battle was not very long, she could finally be content in knowing that the Waking Worlds Beasts were not complete weaklings, and some were actual challenges. She smiles, before pulling her hood back over her face and walking back into the forest.

She dearly hoped she would run into more of those Beasts in the future, otherwise she would be quite bored.

 **Line Break**

She had silently returned to the house without much incident. She was harrassed by a few Dogoos on her way, but nothing exciting or life threatening. Walking in silence up to the door, she hesitated to put her hand on the doorknob. Looking to her left, she noticed a ladder she could use to reach the roof. Looking beyond said roof, there was a clear view of the sky, and the tower she had noticed yesterday. She stepped away from the door and made her way to the ladder. Climbing it, she stepped softly across the roof until she reached the top, where she carefully sat. After she had made sure her position was safe, she looked off into the distance, eyes landing on the brightly lit tower.

She knew it was brightly colored before, but here it was even easier to see. From her position, she could see one aide of the tower looked quite solid and streamlined, while the other half seemed to be home to spires, and what looked to be a large balcony.

'Whoever lives there must have too much money.' Thought The Good Hunter with a frown. Looking down, she could just barely see the roofs of other buildings, and ths talles one seemed to just barely reach an eight of the towers height. What made that building so important? Getting up, she was about to return inside when she squinted at something. She could swear she was seeing a person on the balcony. Resettling herself, she fished around in her pocket, eventually grasping her monocular. Peeking through it, she could make out a pair of figures on the balcony. One, a female if their body was anything to go off of, wore a white jacket with purple lines running in patterns across it. Her hair was a vibrant lilac, and her eyes were tired. But it was what was in her hair that interested The Good Hunter. In her hair, there was a singular hairpin that looked identical to her own. Granted, the one she wore was completely clean, but there was no mistaking it. Beside the girl, was another. This one had a much more natural hair color, being plain black. Her hair was slightly shorter than the girl next to her, and was decorated with two identical ribbons. She wore a black dress, lined with light blue stripes. They seemed to be talking about something, but she couldn't wish to hear it from this distance. She sighed, putting her monocular away before sliding down from the roof, landing on the grass. She silently stepped to the door, and opened it. Stepping inside, she returned to the couch she had been laying on before. Sitting on it, she closed her eyes and decided to enjoy the quiet atmosphere for now.

 **Line Break.**

The Good Hunter opened her eyes at the sound of a door creaking open. Looking in the direction of the noise, she saw Iffy closing a door behind her, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. She walked into the living room, and noticed the very much awake Hunter, sitting on the couch.

"You a morning person?" Asked Iffy, recieving a shrug from the Hunter. Standing, she approached Iffy. "Yesterday, you mentioned you would take me toto accomplish these 'quests.' When do we begin?" Questioned The Good Hunter, earning a surpised glance from Iffy.

"Eager, huh? Well we can't go yet. Gotta wait for Compa to make us breakfast, we can head out then." Explained the girl.

"Very well..." Responded The Good Hunter, sitting down at the same table the ate dinner at the night before. Iffy pulled a chair as well, sitting down at taking out one of those cellphones from a pouch on her coat. Thinking about the battle she had hours before made her smile. Hopefully the Hunt that would come in the near future would be just as exhilarating.

Shortly after she sat, the sound of another door opening and closing was heard down a hallway, folliwed by a happy humming. Compa then came from the living room, spotting them at the table.

"Morning you two!" She said with a happy smile.

"Good morning, Compa." Replied Iffy with a smile.

"Yes... Good morning, indeed." said The Good Hunter. She was expecting a confused glare from at least one if them after that, but she recieved nothing of the sort as Compa retrieved something from a large, metal cabinet and Iffy returned to the handheld device. Had they gotten used to her speech patterns so quickly?

Compa closed the cabinet with a heavy thud, carrying sliced meat and eggs, presumably chicken eggs. She carried them over to a table, where she sat them down. Moving over to a smaller, wooden cabinet, she retrieved two pans and set them on a sleek, black table with knobs on it's front. She turned two knobs, which did not seem to do amything aside from cause a dim red light to emit from underneath the pans. Taking the eggs, she walked over to one pan, before cracking an egg and letting the yolk and white fall into the pan, accompanied by a sizzle. She repeated the process for the other eggs, before throwing the shells into the bin. Moving over to the next pan, she took some of the raw slices of meat, placing them in the pan as well. Moving back to the eggs, she took a spatula from a container to the side and began to prod the eggs.

"Well, you certainly look interested." Commented Iffy, whom The Good Hunter turned to look at.

"Yes, well there isn't much else to observe at the moment." Stated The Good Hunter, earning a shrug from Iffy as she returned to her cellphone.

Eventually, The Good Hunter found a plate of Eggs and cooked meat in front of her. Picking up the fork next to her plate, she sliced some of the egg off, stabbing it with her fork and placing it in her mouth. It was soft, and somewhat salty thanks to Compa sprinkling some on it. She proceeded to quickly eat the rest of the egg, before Compa interrupted her.

"Hey, slow down! You might choke." Compa said with concern lacing her voice. Figuring the easiest way out of this would just be listening, The Good Hunter nodded and slowed her pace, earing what was left of the egg at a similar speed to the other two. After she had swallowed the last of the egg, she moved her attention to the meat on her plate. picking it up with her fingers, a most delightful aroma made it's way to her from the food. Biting a piece off, she found it's taste to be much more appealing than the egg. However, to avoid being interrupted again, she ate at a slow pace, savoring the taste. In the dream, the most she ever tasted were Beast Blood Pellets, Antidotes, Sedatives and Blue or Lead Elixirs. They always left a bad taste in her mouth, so this was a welcome change. Finishing off her food, she took the plate and placed it in the sink, beforr turning to Iffy who had also just finished.

"Alright, well if you're ready to go, we can head to the Guild inside Planeptune." Said Iffy as she walked to the sink, placing her own plate in. She would have asked then what the Guild was, but she figured she would see for herself soon. The Good Hunter replied with a nod, and Iffy began to walk to the door.

"Compa has work today, so it will just be the two of us." She explained as we approached the door. Compa then called out to her. "Bye Iffy! Don't get too hurt!" She called.

"I'll be fine Compa. Have a good day at work!" Iffy yelled as she stepped outside, with The Good Hunter following.

"Its about a 20 minute walk to get from here to the Guild. You sure you have everything?" Iffy asked, recieving a nod from The Good Hunter. They then turned to the trail that led out of the forest, and began to walk.

 **Line Break.**

She had never seen anything quite like this.

Technologies beyond The Good Hunter's wildest imaginations were all around her. Giant screens with changing images were a common sight on buildings, people were walking on nothing inside a giant tube, and many other things. Iffy took notice.

"Impressive, isn't it? Planeptune prides itself on being the most technologically advanced nation." Iffy explained.

"I can certainly see why..." Commented The Good Hunter. Most of the people she saw were dressed in either casual clothing or suits, but there were a few people that caught her eye. The biggest offender was a large man wearing plate armor, lugging a large mace around. His overconfident smirk annoyed The Good Hunter. How could you move around in battle while wearing thick armor like that? It certainly would weigh you down, and better to avoid hits than letting armor take them for you. Thats why she was always a fan of light armor. It allowed tou to move quite freely, but still granted you some insurance against some blows.

"Ah, here we are." Iffy said, stopping in front of a rather large building. It was rather large building. However, The Good Hunter had no time to examine it, as Iffy entered the building, The Good Hunter just behind her.

The Guild was large on the inside as well. There was a front desk with a clerk, as well as many devices mounted into the walls.

"Alright, all you need to do is approach the console. When it asks if you are a returning or new member, select new member." Iffy explained as they walked over to a console. The Good Hunter looked to Iffy, who nodded. The Good Hunter then looked at the device, when it suddenly lit up and asked the same question Iffy had advised her about beforehand. Selecting new member, the device asked for her to input a name.

'Fucking...' The Good Hunter mentally swore. What was she supposed to do? She couldn't put The Good Hunter, that was a title and anyone could see it was a lie. She couldn't pick Neptune because it would very likely reveal herself to everyone. She had to come up with a name, and fast.

"What, you still worried about revealing your name? We let you sleep at our place, I think you owe us." Iffy stated, The Good Hunter could feel her smirking. She internally sighed, and typed the first word that came into her head.

"Bayou."

She then quickly pressed confirm, and a device emerged from the console, it stayed there for a few moments, before returning inside the console. The machine beeped, and the console spat out a card at her. Picking it up, the left side contained a picture of her robef figure, her false name next to it. The right side was filled with words and numbers she couldnt bother to understand the reasoning behind.

"Alright, now you have free reign to go do quests." Iffy said, before turning. "Since you just started, you can only do E class quests. They usually entail fetching items for a specific person or taking on weaker monsters, but that doesn't sound like anything you cant handle. Im afraid I wont be able to join you, since I have higher level, more pressing quests to attend to. Still, I believe you have what it takes to be a good adventure. See you around." Iffy said, turning on a heel and running out of the Guild, leaving Bayou alone. Secretly however, she was gritting her teeth.

'Restricted to weak monsters? What foolishness is this?' She angrily though, returning to the console. She selected returning member, and it asked for her to insert her card. Sighing, she placed her card into a slot that emerged from the console, and waited. After a few moments, the machine returned her card to her and a list came up. At the top was S class, with the bottom being E class. However, when she tried to immediately go for S class, nothing happened. She growled. Sure, the machine could tell her she couldn't, but what was stopping her from encountering deadly foes on her own?

Yes, she would just have to find them on her own! These machines have no power over what she does outside, so what does it matter? However, the girl was not blind to the fact that she would need funds to survive in this world, So, begrudgingly, she pressed the E class tab and chose the three highest paying jobs, which all happened to be hunting quests. That wasn't much of a silver lining, but she would rather hunt weak beasts than be someone's errand girl. So, she turned and began to exit the building.

"Time for a hunt..." She said to herself, a menacing smile crossing her face.

 **Line Break.**

So far, things had been dreadfully boring.

She had completed her first two quests, which entailed culling the numbers of the local monsters. Aside from Dogoos, she encountered living flowers, and other Beasts that were largely beneath her, both figuratively as they were much weaker than her, and literally as she crushed them underneath her boots.

It was true, this forest was home to weaklings. And that was becoming ever more apparent as she got closer to the 25 kill goal that was her third quest. However, after being on the 24th kill for some time, she began to realize something.

For the past hour she'd been here, any Beasts she killed would simply come back a few minutes. Sure, sometimes there were delays, which actually accounted for most of the time she spent here, but they had seemingly stopped. For ten minutes, not a single Beast had appeared. It was a few seconds later when she saw why.

It was only for a second or two, but she was certain she saw a Dogoo appear as they usually did. However, it's eyes were filled with fear and it very quickly retreated into the wooded foresr, out of sight.

It was then that The Good Hunter smiled. That smile turned into a chuckle, which evolved into a laugh. The Beasts were _afraid_ of her. And that was utterly priceless.

She quickly dashed forward into the trees, her Rakuyo ready to slice into an unlucky Dogoo until she ran into a small, cubical green dog. The same she had encountered earlier today in her early morning excursion. She simply stomped on the thing to make an escape an impossibility, before stabbing her blade straight through it, ending it's existence.

While she preferred a fair battle with a powerful opponent, there was a feeling a person got from hunting weaker beings that could never fully be replicated. Of course, she had to control her bloodlust, but it was a feeling that was welcome. Exiting the forest, she found it to be completely silent. Smiling at her handiwork, she stows her weapons and makes to leave the area, until something makes her stop, and look in curiosity.

It was somewhat hard to see through all the brush, but there was a cave. A very large one at that. And it seemed to be lined with bright crystals, as she could see within until there was a turn. Looking towards the path back to the Guild, she shook her head and narrowed her eyes at the cave.

'This could prove to be a waste of time, but that cave may be host to a large Beast. And if not? I know to not return.' The Good Hunter said to herself, as she walked through the brush. She stood in front of the cave's mouth, looking inside. Nothing could be heard except for the distant calling of birds and the dripping of water inside the cave. It would have unnerved most.

She had a feeling there was something down there. A Beast, waiting to meet her blade. And so, she stepped into the cave. Ready to meet whatever Beasts lay within it's confines.


	3. A Bloodied Goddess 3

**Thank you all for your continued support. I really do appreciate it, and every follow, favorite and review pushes me to write more.**

The first thing that The Good Hunter noticed when she entered the cave was just how cold it was. Of course, it wasn't on the levels of Cainhurst, but it was certainly a noticable drop from the forest she had just came from. The dropping of water also seemed to become considerably less noticeable as she walked through the cavern, hands gripping her weapons tightly. As she walked, she began to grow more and more irritated. So far, this expedition had proven to be completely worthless. Not a single Beast made itself known, and she found a scowl growing on her face. As she continued, she began to notice that there were scratch marks on the cave walls. Large markings belonging to a Beast. This did well in revitalizing her faith that there would be a worthy Beast here for her to slay, and she quickened her pace. She did find it slightly odd that not a single beast was inhabiting this cave, however. It seemed like a perfect shelter for the weaklings to cower in.

It was then, however, that she heard an all too familiar yell. One that she became quite acquainted with during her early time in Yharnam. In an instant, she went from a brisk walk to a full sprint down the cavern.

'How? How is it here?' She thought to herself. There was always the chance she was hearing things, but it sounded far too real. She was met with a turn, which she quickly took before she found herself in a large room. Hearing that hellish yell again, she turned to her right. What she saw in that moment made her blood boil.

It was a very large beast that was covered in black hair, with a few gray strands here and there. It's chest looked as if it's ribs were about to explode out of it's skin, and under that was a very thin torso when conpared to the rest of it's body. But that wasnt the most striking thing.

It's right arm was utterly massive, with unnaturally long fingers. It was covered i hair, and was currently using it to stand. It's left arm in comparison however, was quite small and puny. There was no mistaking it. The Good Hunter was ince again standing before a Cleric Beast. And as of this moment, it was currently feasting on a poor sod that thought it could handle such a Beast. Well, they were clearly wrong. The Good Hunter had the element of surprise, but she prefered a fair fight. Well, as fair as she could make it. Taking aim with her pistol, she fired a quicksilver bullet at the Beast, which embedded itself in its back. With a mighty roar, the thing turned to face The Good Hunter, before it began to quickly close the distance. The Good Hunter smirked, and began to run at the Beast. Finally, something that could bleed!

With a roar, the Beast threw itself at the Hunter, only to be swiftly dodged and cut deeply in the slide. It did not scream in pain, as it was not a weak Beast. A Beast of this size and strength could very easily pose a threat to anyone unlucky to cross it's path, but that was not why The Good Hunter was engaging in battle, no.

It was because, for all the times the Cleric Beast had killed her in Yharnam, she had only killed it once. And now that she was being offered to kill another, who was she to refuse? Of course, two would not be enough, but it would sate her desire for revenge for now.

Dodging another wild swing from the Beast, she fired a bullet right into it's thin torse as it prepared to bite down on her. The Beast then stumbled forward, barely catching itself. It would have been better off not doing that. The Good Hunter rushed under the beast, and forcefully shoved her hand through the skin and inside the torso of the beast. She clenched her fist inside, before forcefully pulling it out, alongside with any organs, bones and squishy bits she could grab. The Beast yelled out in pain as the force from such a visceral attack sent it backwards, before it quickly stood and lunged at The Good Hunter. That was what she missed about the Beasts of Yharnam, they had incredible fortitude, unlike most of the Beasts she had encountered here. The Good Hunter attempted to dodge out of the way as the Beast landed, only to be caught in the large hand as she did. She quickly began to stab the hand that held her as she was lifted, but it did little to deter the Cleric Beast, as it began to ruthlessly slam her into the ground repeatedly, creating audible cracks as her bones were shattered. It hurt like hell, but a Hunter would never let pain stop them. She continued to stab the Beast with an ever growing ferocity, until she eventually felt a finger fall from the hand, and she was released as the beast screamed in pain. She stood, detaching the dagger from the sword, before running into the fray again. The Beast looked weakened as it began to walk to the Hunter, stumbling a few times as innards hung from it's gut and was down a finger. It moved to grab her, but it was clumsy. It stumbled slightly as it extended it's arm, allowing The Good Hunter to move behind it and slash the legs, watching as the blood stained her robe and a small amount of her face. A scream rang out as the Beast quickly turned and swang at The Good Hunter with it's massive arm, sending her across the room and slamming into the wall, accompanied by a loud crack that was her spine. This caused her to let out a pained yell as she hit the ground. Quickly, she fished around for a blood vial in her pouch. Taking the bottle and needle, she filled it with the blood and stabbed herself with it, injecting the blood into her leg. The effects were instantaneous, and her wounds healed in moments. Standing she looked to the Cleric Beast to see a red aura surrounding it, before it let out a yell. She watched in anger as it's wounds closed, and it's finger regenerated. Now the battle was starting anew.

Angrily, her right hand dove into a pocket and pulled out a charred slip of paper, embers constantly falling from it. She quickly rubbed the Fire Paper on her weapon, causing the blade to erupt in flames. Smiling, she quickly returned to the battle, intent on finishing it. The Beast lunged at her with fervor matched only be her own, and attempted to bring it's fist down on her. The Good Hunter swiftly dodged to the right just as the fist met the ground, and brought the flaming blade down on the arm with great strength, hacking halfway through it and burning any flesh it came into contact with. The Beast yelled out in great pain, as The Good Hunter pushed the blade down even harder, burning through flesh and bone until she eventually was met with no resistance, and a loud thud echoed across the room.

The Cleric Beast screamed out in agony as it swung around the stub that was once it's arm, before The Good Hunter stabbed it's leg with the dagger, bringing it to a fall. She dodged out of the way as it fell, walking around to to the front. It was snarling, drooling and trying to bite her, all in vain. Wordlessly, she thrust her blade upward into the head of the thing, watching as all of it's actions ceased and fire shot out from the eye sockets of the thing. Pulling her blade out, it extinguished just as the beast exploded in a shower of blood, raining down on The Good Hunters everything. Her clothing. her weapons, everything was drenched in the blood of the thing. The Good Hunter frowned, what was a Cleric Beast doing here?

She walked over to the very much dead man, who's organs were half eaten. She didn't recognize him, but it did feel wrong to leave the body just... there. She took a molotov from her pouch, and tossed it onto the corpse, setting it ablaze.

'If a Cleric Beast was here, I wonder how many other Beasts are here as well.' Wondered The Good Hunter, as she turned and prepared to leave the cavern. Taking one last glance at the burning body, she shook her head and stepped out of the room.

Yes, it was a good idea to investigate this place.

 **Line Break**

The Good Hunter recieved looks of fear and shock as she walked back to the Guild. She surmised it was due to the fact small amounts of blood were still dripping from her, and she did find it sonewhat amusing. It was as if these people had never seen blood before, and that was when she realised that most of the people looking at her probably never had. She sighed, before taking a turn that led to the Guild. Looking inside the building, she didn't see Iffy or Compa, which somewhat relieved her. They were nice people, but The Good Hunter preferred solitude above all else. Making her way over to the console, she logged in and it began to go over all she had done. It acknowledged the completion of the three quests, and transferred the appropriate 'credits' to her Guild card. However, it did not acknowledge her defeat of the Cleric Beast, which she found to be annoying.

But she couldn't complain that much, even if she wasn't being rewarded for killing the thing, she still received compensation for the utter boredom that was the hunt quests. Now, she had a quest of her own.

Find a place to stay.

She couldn't return to Compa's house, as they said they would only host her for a night. Therefore, finding a place where she could recuperate and stay was very important. Leaving the guild, she took a left and ventured into a part of the city she had never been to before, hoping to find a vacant building she could purchase, or an abandoned one that she could claim. The latter sounded more appealing, but the likelyhood of that happening was quite low.

 **Two hours later...**

Boarded windows, dusty interior, no sound. It was great. She couldn't have asked for more.

The Good Hunter couldn't believe her luck. She was currently inside a house she found at a less populated area of the city. There, she found a house that had all the telltale signs of being abandoned on the outside, so she stepped inside to investigate. And there was indeed not a soul in sight, nor had it looked like one had been here for years. There was a layer of dust on everything, and was completely silent. She was surpised to find that electricity still flowed throughout the building, so that was a plus.

It was a two floor house. On the bottom floor was the living room, with a couch, television and the same video game console that was at Compa's. The kitchen, which was completely empty in terms of food and drink, had similar things occupying it. Including the strange heating table and metal cabinet, among other, weird devices she had yet to investigate. There was a restroom, lacking any shower but otherwise nothing of importance to note, and what looked to be a storage room. The second floor housed a large bedroom. Inside was a bed that was obviously meant for more than one person, two bedside tables, a television and a strange, black device at the base of it, which she could only assume was some sort of video game console. Next to this room was a bathroom. It looked similar to the one on the floor below, however this one has a shower, a bath and a window. Overall, it was acceptable. Placing her weapons on a bedside table, she looked to the black console at her feet.

'... I suppose I could try it.' Thought The Good Hunter as she pulled back her hood and sat down in front of the console. Pressing a button on the top of it, the machine lit up. Looking to the television, The Good Hunter became confused when it didn't light up. Standing on her feet, she walked over to the television and began looking around it. Maybe it had a button as well? After feeling around the frame, her fingers were met with a button. Pressing it, she tilted her head at the fact that nothing happened. Moving her hsnd down, she felt another button. She pressed this one as well, being met with the same result. She continued this process for 15 more seconds, until her hand finally landed on the largest button. Pressing it, the television lit up the room. Moving back to the console, she sat down and picked up a controller, looking at the screen. It listed off available games, many of which lookee childish. However, there were was one game that caught her eye.

"Devil's Spirits"

She read under her breath. The image showed a knight in beat up armor laying against a wall, a shield full of arrows and a sword laying at their side. Somewhat interested, she selected the game and began playing.

Little did the residents of Planeptune know, they would be woken from their slumber due to an enraged yell coming from a building long since abandoned.

 **Planeptune Basilicom**

"Well, thats all for tonight. I better get some sleep." Said Nepgear, standing up from her desk. She completed a lot of quests today, and just finished some paperwork. Walking off to her bedroom, she decided to get a quick bit of fresh air. Moving out to the balcony, she took a deep breath and looked out at her thriving city. Smiling, she turned back when she heard something. It was rather faint, but she could have sworn she heard an absolutely enraged scream come from the city.

"Must be fatigue getting to me." She reasoned, heading back inside.

 **The next morning...**

The Good Hunter left her place of residence through a window in her bedroom. She had stayed up quite late playing the game, and may have gotten somewhat enraged during a battle with a powerful foe.

'He was so damn close to dying, Great Ones damnit.' She thought as she heard her stomach growl in anger. She hadnt eaten since that breakfast with those two, so she would need to find something to eat soon. As she walked to the Guild for a quest, she noticed a building to her left, with many confections displayed on the window. Looking at the food, her stomach grumbled again. 'I suppose I can afford something to eat.' She thought, entering the building. As soon ad she stepped inside, sweet smells invaded her nostrils. There were glass counters containing many baked goods that made her even hungrier. Luckily, it seemed she got there at a good timeas the last person in line just left with their snack. Walking over to the counter, she was met with a girl in a uniform.

"Hello! What can I get for you?" She asked, smiling. It was somewhat odd that the girl didn't seem put off by her outfit in the slightest, but she wasn't one to look a gift horse in the mouth. She could so with less attention. The Good Hunter looked at the options, until her eyes landed on a specific item named a Blueberry Muffin. She pointed at that, and the employee spoke.

"One blueberry muffin?" She asked, to which The Good Huhter responded with a nod. "Coming right up!" She happily said as she turned her back to a counter. The Good Hunter moved to sit down at one of the many chairs available, before reaching into her pouch and retrieving her guild card. On the right side, there was the word Credits with a 1,500 next to it.

'Yes, this should be enough for me to afford the food.' She thought as she waited. Checking through her on hand supplies, she deduced that she had 13 quicksilver bullets and 18 blood vials left, among other items which were in very limited supply, such as fire paper, which she only had one more sheet of. Sighing, she ran a finger across the barrel of her pistol, before she heard a bell ring. Looking up, she found the girl at the counter with a bag.

"One blueberry muffin!" She called out, prompting me to stand and walk to her.

"That'll be 150 credits!" She said, an eternal smile plastering her face. That did seem rather pricy for what it was, but I was willing to pay. After all, I could always make more money. I handed her my guild card, which she took and ran through a machine on the counter. She looked at it for a moment, before handing it back to me along with the bag.

"Enjoy the muffin!" She said, to which The Good Hunter responded with a nod, before leaving the bakery and sitting at one of the tables outside. The Good Hunter reached inti the bag and pulled out the muffin. Even with the clothing covering her hand, she could feel the warmth coming from the baked treat. She pulled it to her mouth and took a bite, being met with a sweet taste, similar to how most other things tasted around here. She took another bite, followed by another, and then a fourth. It did not take long for the muffin to completely dissapear. Standing, she looked into the street to see two familiar faces walking down it. Iffy and Compa seemed to be on their way to the bakery as well, and they had yet to notice her. That is until, Compa pointed at me and a smile grew on her. She entered a light jog, and seemed to be merrily giggling as she did.

"Heeelloooo!" She called out to The Good Hunter. She stood and began to make her way over to them, Iffy beginning to catch up.

"Well whaddya know, you didn't bite it. Compa got all worried about you last night because she forgot you were only staying for a night. She really was expecting you to come back."

Really? She forgot a detail as important as that?

"Hm, I see. Either way, good morning to you Compa, Iffy." The Good Hunter greeted, noticing that Iffy stiffened up at that and a slight frown crossed her face.

"Hey, don't call me Iffy. My name is IF." She said, a slight edge to her voice. I tilted my head at that, was a two letter difference really that big of a deal?

"I see. Well, my apologies IF, I had never heard you go by that until now."

"It's fine, just don't do it again." She replied

"So, Whatcha doing here?" Compa asked. She wondered if she had misheard that. There was only one thing she could do here, why ask her such a question?

"I was merely eating a muffin."

"A muffin? Was it a blueberry one? Those ones are soooo goooood!" Compa replied, causing... stars to appear in her eyes, along with sparkles.

"Erm... Yes, it indeed was." She responded, gaze locked on the strange anomaly in her eyes. Hearing her response, she closed her eyes and began go hop in place, which The Good Hunter found to be very odd. It was then that IF walked closer.

"So did you find a place to stay?" She asked, to which The Good Hunter responded with a nod.

"It was somewhat difficult, but I did find a place to stay, yes."

"Well that's good. Nice to see you're on your feet so quickly." IF replied, a small smile making itself known on her face

"Hm, yes, I suppose I did settle myself rather quickly, didn't I?"

"Yeah, suppose you did. Your first quests go okay?" She asks, tugging on Compa's shoulder to get her to stop.

"They were easy." The Good Hunter replied.

"Really? Well thats good then." IF said with a smile as She began to walk inside. Compa began to follow her, but she hit the Hunter with one more question.

"Hey, if you don't mind now, could you tell us your name?" She asked, hope lacing her voice. The Good Hunter considered it for a moment. She did have a fake name now, so she didn't really have a reason not to. These people are allies to her either way. Looking up, she let the smallest sign of a smile reach her lips.

"Bayou, just call me that." She said, earning happy eyes from Compa as she was pulled into the store by IF. The Good Hunter stood, before leaning on the wall of the store. It would probably be rude of her to walk off on the two of them, so she decided to say a goodbye when the two exited the store.

 **10 minutes later...**

"Compa, I cant believe you spent eight minutes just figuring out what to buy. You are so lucky there wasn't line, or else we would have probably gotten kicked out." IF sternly said as the two exited the store, holding a bag. The Good Hunter was about to dash her plan and walk off on them if they took any longer.

"Finally out, I see? I was originally heading to the Guild to take some quests. So if you don't mind, I will see myself off." Said The Good Hunter, standing straight.

"Oh! We were about to go questing too! We could all go together!" Compa cheered.

"Compa, Bayou is still an E rank Guild Member, she cant help us on our higher level quests." IF reminded, which made Compa suddenly slump down.

"I was not planning on doing many quests either way, so I would not plan on interfering with your own." The Good Hunter stated, as she gave a small wave to the pair as she walked off. "Till we meet again." She called.

 **Line Break.**

These quests were seriously starting to get on her nerves.

They were tedious, boring and always played out the same way: Accept quest, go to forest, kill weakling monsters, return and be compensated for the mind numbing experience you just went through.

She was pretty sure she had just killed her fiftieth Dogoo today, among many other lesser Beasts. It was seriously starting to dig away at her mind, the repetition was absolutely horrid. But, if she DIDN'T do them, she would have no money to buy food and drink with. In short, she either had to be bored our of her own skull and earn a decent pay, or be somewhat less bored and have no money. After all, she doubted she would be finding any more Cleric Beasts anytime soon. Cutting through the last Beast, a strange, flat green thing that seemed to be made of cubes, she finally finished the last of the quests. If the console told the truth, she should earn 2,500 credits total for all of these quests. Enough to buy her a good meal and have enough left over for other things if she added her remaining credits to that. Sheathing her Rakuyo, she looks to the path back towards Planeptune. She began to walk the path, when she was interrupted by laughing. Sinister, Human laughing. The Good Hunter stopped in her tracks, looking ahead as a man in leather armor walked out from the forest, and another in what looked to be chainmail blocked the path behind her. They both had bladed weapons out and ready. She moved a hand over her dagger blade, her left hand holding her loaded pistol. The two took a step closer, before the front one began to talk.

"Well, lookie here. Looks like we got a strong, intimidating soul here, Joel." The one in leather armor said.

"Aye, looks like we do." The one behind The Good Hunter said.

"What do you want?" Replied The Good Hunter, venom in her voice.

"Well you see Friend, me and the fine lad behind ya are looking for any able bodied people who are interested in earning some extra cash" Replied the one in the leather. Even The Good Hunter could tell this man meant performing questionable actions in turn for cash, but he may give more info if she played along a bit longer.

"I'm listening" Replies The Good Hunter.

"Now that's what I like to hear? Now you see, me and a couple of my friends have been looking to make extra cash by grabbin it off folks who are unlucky enough to pass through here at a certain time. You interested?"

So theres more of them and they frequent this area? On top of that, he basically admitted to killing people. That was enough for The Good Hunter.

"No, I would rather not." Replied The Good Hunter, disengaging the lock on the dagger.

"Well that's just too bad. Now we cant just let you go now that you know all this, can we? So just don't fight and make this easy fo-" The man was cut off by a dagger suddenly being thrown into his gullet. The Good Hunter turned in an instant and filled the other man's head with quicksilver in an instant. They were both dead before they fell to the ground. Movinf swiftly, The Good Hunter moved to the leather man and retrieved her bload-soaked dagger, inserting it into the sword. Sheathing the weapon, she picked up the lifeless husk and tossed it into the brush, doing the same for the one in chainmail. Stepping out of the foliage, she brushed her hair out if her face, before running in the direction of Compa's house. Hopefully those two were there, they needed to know of the danger.

 **15 Minutes later...**

"Bay-Bay? What is it?" Compa said, tilting her head. She almost did the same, before remembering her reason for coming here.

"I have urgent news. Is IF here?"

"Yeah, come inside." Compa said, looking worried.

"IFFY! Come here!" Compa yelled across the house, which was met with quick footstepa and the form of IF turning the corner.

"Bayou? What's going on?" She asked. It would seem she noticed the blood on the dagger blade, as her expression grew more concerned.

"I come with a warning." Said The Good Hunter, pulling out a map and a pencil she bought for 5 credits. "Do not head down this path when venturing into Virtua Forest." She said while circling it. "I just came from there, and was jumped by a group of bandits."

"Bandits?!" They both asked, one in concern and another in surprise.

"Yes. Althought I was only met with two, whom I dealt with, they claimed there were more of them. So I came here to warn you not to take this path, lest you suffer the same fate. At least do not go alone." The Good Hunter explained, seeing a look of determination form on IF's face.

"Compa, call Gearsy and get her up to speed." She said, recieving a nod which was followed by Compa taking a cell phone from the table. IF then turned to The Good Hunter.

"Bayou, we need to deal with this as quickly as possible. I have experience with this type of confrontation, and if you are claiming you dealt with them, im assuming you have as well. We need to go root them out. If we cant do it on our own, we will have Planeptunes Goddess on our side."

The Good Hunters breathing hitched. Was she found out? She thought she was concealing herself pretty well. It was then that she remembered something. Back in Virtua Forest, there were four flying figures. One was pink and had the colors of Planeptune. It was only logical to assume that she must mean her, right?

"Something wrong?" Questioned IF as she stood by the door. The Good Hunter shook her head, and followed her over.

"Nothing, just trying to devise a plan."

"We can plan according to the situation when we get there. We dont know how much longer they will be there." IF said with haste in her voice, opening the door and quickly exiting. Sighing, The Good Hunter followed her out and readied her weapons. She was not a fan of killing other Humans, but The Good Hunter was willing to do so if the situation called for it.

And this situation? Most definitely called for it.


	4. A Bloodied Goddess 4

**Sorry this took longer than usual. School kicked up around the time I started writing this, and that really screwed my upload schedule. So please bear with me. Uploads will be less frequent from this point onward and chapters may be smaller, but I will not be leaving this story to die.**

Running down the trail, the two eventually found themselves in the area that it had happened.

"It happened here." Said The Good Hunter, causing IF to stop.

"Alright. Well, we can split up and search the area here. You find their base or anything like that, call me." She said

The Good Hunter sighed at that. "I dont have one of these Cell phones." She admitted, to which IF "Oh"d at.

"Well, guess we're sticking together then." She stated, before walking off into the woods. Sighing, The Good Hunter followed. However, she noticed that the bodies she had hidden were gone.

'Must have done a poor job hiding them.' She mused, before continuing to follow IF.

it would seem that the men that The Good Hunter encountered on that trail weren't bluffing. The two ventured deep into the forest, eventually coming upon a small, warehouse style building that looked quite dilapidated. The front door had two guards posted on it, as well as four others patrolling the walls. Rather underwhelming, but one could assume that most of their number was currently inside the building. Watching from the treeline, IF was currently coming up with a plan of action. "So if you can take the two at the door, I can deal with the ones patrolling the walls. Once the ones at the door are out of action, wait for me before you head in. We dont know what will be in there, and I'd rather you didn't get beaten up on my watch. " She said. "Compa will never forgive me if I let you get beat up."

While her worries were somewhat justified given the situation, if anything The Good Hunter was more concerned about her well being. She'd rather get this done as quickly as possible instead of worrying about her own safety.

"Very well. I will work to dispatch the door guards with speed." The Good Hunter said, splitting her Rakuyo.

"Right... Just be careful, Bayou." IF said, before silently walking over to another area of the woods, presumably to catch a guard unawares. The Good Hunter thought it would be simpler to do the same, however, instead of finding an advantageous position, she reached into her pouch and retrieved a bottle of blue, translucent liquid in a glass bottle. Most commonly known as Blue Elixir. And while it did not make one completely hidden from vision, it did make them much more difficult to see. The Good Hunter slowly crept out from the brush, taking care not to move the various plants, before stepping out into the open, mostly hidden from sight. The two guards seemed to be in deep conversation, so they did not care to look out at the open and possibly spot The Good Hunter. She slowly approached the pair, oblivious to her approach as she readied her dagger, ignoring their pointless jabbering. They both wore no headgear, and minimal body armor in the form of what looked to be thin shirts and small amounts of metal covering certain areas on their body. Apparently, they sent their most expensive toys with their now rotting freinds.

Like an assassin in the night, she waited for the other to turn away for a moment.

Just a moment.

It all happened in that same moment.

The Good Hunter brought her dagger blade up, and gripped it tight before sending it straight for the back of his neck in a slice, severing it from his head in an instant, sending the dark, crimson liquid flying everywhere. On her, on the other guard, and everywhere between and around them.

The other guard quickly turned and opened his mouth to scream, but he never got there as his screams were being blocked by a sharp, metal blade being thrust into his mouth and out the back of his neck. His eyes rolled into the back of his head, blood beginning to pour from his orifices before she pulled it from the bastard, letting him fall to the floor with a thud. With that, the effects of the Blue Elixir wore off, and she contemplated on what to do. If she waited for IF, it would mean more wasted time and the possibility of her getting hurt, or possibly killed. She wasn't willing to let one of her only friend-

Freind? Why did she call her that?

The Good Hunter brought a hand up to her forehead, feeling a bit strange. She wasn't a friend, just an ally. They worked together, and there was nothing else to it. A Hunter couldnt afford to be attatched to anyone in any way, even if they were friends in the past. The people of this place were no different. Even if she did know them at one point, that was as Neptune. Well, she wasn't Neptune anymore. She will never be Neptune again. The Good Hunter smacked themselves, before violently shaking their head and looking back up. If she waited for IF to join her, she would just get in her way when they entered. So, without a second thought, The Good Hunter entered the building.

 **Line Break**.

As soon as she opened the door, she was met with opposition by two girls standing beside the door.

"Hey, the f-"

That was as far as the one on the right got before a blade was sent through her neck, and the one on the left was given similar treatment with a smaller, slimmer edge. Pulling her weapons from their throats, they unceremoniously fell to the ground with a thud. The Good Hunter stepped forward, and examined her surroundings.

The inside of the building was mostly lit by sunlight peeking through the various holes and cracks. It was fairly spacious, but it was wasted space as there was nothing filling it. Nobody else was in the warehouse, but there was a small, windowless room in the far left corner that looked fairly new compared to everything else in the area.

'Seems like it was the smart choice, not waiting on her.' She thought.

Stepping over the bleeding bodies, she made her way over to the room, blood dripping from her outfit every step of the way. Approaching the door, she heard two voices from the inside. Leaning against the door, she could make it out better.

"So how we gonna split the loot between us all?" Said one voice. From the sound of it, the person speaking was likely a female.

"We can worry about that later. Odds are that whoever killed our boys last night ratted about us to the CPU." Another female voice said, which sounded near identical to the first.

"I still dont understand... What kind of sadistic motherfucker would actually kill them?" The other replied, to which The Good Hunter frowned at.

'Damn Hypocrites.' She thought as she stopped leaning and kicked the weak, wooden door clean off it's hinges. This seemed to startle the two inside, as they both let out a frightened yelp, before raising their weapons at her, an axe and a spear.

"Who the hell are you?" The one on the left said. She had short, ear length hair and had large breasts. Way too large to be in any way natural. The one on the right had the exact same body, excluding her hair which was shoulder length. But The Good Hunter didn't have time to answer the question, nor did she want to.

"Asshole! Answer me, dam-" The woman was cut off when she felt a cold, piercing pain in her neck. Looking down, her eyes seemed to widen as she realised a long dagger was sticking out her neck, which was heavily bleeding. Stumbling back as blood began to leak from her mouth, she fell on her back. The Good Hunter then looked to the other girl, who was staring at the scene in immense fear, tears threatening to pour from her eyes. That all changed when she looked at The Good Hunter, Who was currently watching the dying girl with a satisfied grin.

"You..." The girl said, causing The Good Hunter to turn to her, weapon ready.

"BASTARD!" Cried the girl, lunging forward in a vain attempt to end The Good Hunter, who simply sidestepped the attack and grabbed the shaft of the spear, following with a deep slice to her chest. The girls eyes widened as her breathing slowed a bit, looking down as something made a wet slap against the floor, followed by copious amounts of ichor falling from her now opened chest. The Good Hunter released the spear, and the girl fell on her hands and knees, almost slipping as her right hand landed on her intestines. The Good Hunter brought her foot down on the spine of the girl, creating a muffled scream and a snap, before raising her blade, and bringing it down on the back of her head, spraying what blood she had left in her all over her blade. Stepping away from the body, she pulled her blade out, and moved over to the other, now dead girl and retrieved her dagger. Returning it to it's holding place within the blade, she heard a gasp from behind her. Quickly turning, she was met with a white faced IF standing at the door.

 **Flashback, IF**

 **3 Minutes earlier**

IF had just finished battle with her opponent, successfully depleting his HP and causing him to fall to the ground unconscious. She pulled a green cell phone from one of the many compartments on her coat, before calling Compa

"Hey, is Gearsy on her way to me?"

"Yep! I got off the phone with her a few minutes ago and she said she was on her way." Compa replied.

"Good. Thanks, Compa." IF replied.

"No problem Iffy! Bye bye!" Compa said, before hanging up. IF sighed, and looked to the sky. "Hopefully she can track my phone." She said, before walking over to where Bayou should be.

"Hopefully he handled those two okay. Compa would KILL me if-" She stopped speaking as she turned the corner, suddenly stumbling backwards and gasping. The two guards were dealt with alright, but they weren't unconscious. No, the viscous, crimson liquid pooled underneath their slumped bodies and their open, bleeding wounds were proof enough. And the smell was already worsening. Not only that, but the door was halfway open, and she could see more blood on the inside. Slowly, she opened the door and was met with two more corpses, each lying dead with blood pooled under them.

"Did... Bayou do this?" She asked herself. She didn't want to believe that anyone, much less her would kill people. Not only could you be placed in prison for life for doing it in any of the four nations, it was also difficult, having to fully deplete one's HP, and then kill them while they are unconscious. There is also nothing to gain from it.

But who else could have done it? Nobody else was here that she knew of, leaving only one other person.

Had Bayou really killed these people?

It was then IF heard a loud yelling coming from the room in the far left corner. Quickly turning, she bolted down the warehouse, reaching the small room in about 16 seconds. She looked into the room, to see her there.

Bayou, and she was standing over a dead body slumped against a wall, while another was utterly brutalized and gutted in the center of the room. She could help but gasp at the sight, causing the hooded figure to turn at her, darkness shrouding any semblance of a face as usual.

 **Flashback end**

'With the way she reacted, you'd think she'd never seen a dead person before.' The Good Hunter thought as she stepped over the bodies.

"Well, I apologize for entering without you but you took too long. I assume the perimeter guards have been dealt with?" Assumed The Good Hunter. She didn't recieve any response however, and instead was given the scene of IF quickly exiting the room, followed by the sound of vomiting. The Good Hunter exited the room as well, expecting the leave. But she was interrupted by the feeling of IF harshly gripping her hood.

"Why did you kill them?!" She yelled in anger. The Good Hunter was confused at this, but was more concerned with her hood, which was dangerously close to falling. She gripped her hood and pulled herself out of IF's grip, before turning and seeing a look of unadulterated anger. She must have killed the guards outside, why was she so upset?

"What are you going on about? You must have killed your targets as well, yes?" Questioned The Good Hunter, causing IF to stumble back a bit, rage in her eyes.

"Why would you assume that! Of course I didn't kill them, there was no reason to! And it's illegal!" IF said angrily.

"Really? It's illegal to kill people here?" The Good Hunter thought out loud, much to IF's surprise.

"What do you me- YES! Yes, of course killing people is illegal! Not to mention completely pointless! You dont get any extra rewards for doing it, and it's just extra work! Bringing their HP down to zero is enough!" She half explained half yelled.

HP? The Good Hunter was completely unfamiliar with the term.

"Killing them is not completely pointless." Reasoned The Good Hunter, causing IF to recoil in shock at her words. "If we let them live on, they will continue their actions time and time again, and whats to stop them?" She asked, causing IF to practically explode.

"THE JAIL CELL THEY GET PUT IN YOU IDIOT!" IF shouted, causing The Good Hunter to stop and think. These people had an actual jail and law system?

She mentally facepalmed. Of course they did, this isn't a lawless beast infested city. Despite this, killing had become a normal thing for her. She was never really trained to incapacitate her victims. Of course, she couldnt tell IF that alongside a multitude of other things. Well now she was truly stuck. She couldn't tell her she only knew how to kill, but if she didn't, what could she do?

There was no way out of this one.

Well, spending life on the run as a criminal would always be an option. Would offer up a decent amount of excitement as well.

What else could she do? She'd rather be branded as a criminal than reveal everything. That would be way too complicated.

'Sorry, IF.'

The Good Hunter quickly reared back her right arm and soared her fist right into IF's face, creating a sickening crunch and knocking her right out. She didn't have forever. She sprinted to the door and busted it wide open, quickly looking left and darting into the forest blindly. She had to get back to her house in Planeptune. From there she could formulate a plan, she would just have to avoid Planeptunes police force and their own Goddess, somewhat of a daunting task if she was being honest with herself.

Line Break.

She cracked the blinds on her house open just a bit. She had made it back to her house, having escaped the eyes of the population and slaying any Beasts that got in her way. Unfortunately, it seemed she would have to hunker down in this building for a while. Why? Well...

They haven't actually figured out that The Good Hunter was in the city, but practically every person on this planet knew about her in the span of four hours. News really does travel fast, doesnt it... And to make matters worse, they knew she carried a flintlock pistol. Meaning she could not use a gun unless it's design was completely different. Oh well, roll with the punches.

Well, she had one crucial advantage over them. Nobody had any idea of what she looked like, just what she wore and the weapons she held. As long as she changed her gear, she could remain incognito.

The question was what to wear and what to use. She had donned her Yahar'Gul robes and exclusively used her Rakuyo and Hunter's pistol for the longest time, so picking a new inventory would be difficult, but if she wanted to avoid unwanted attention, this was the best option.

"Alright, lets see what I have on-hand..." She said to herself, sitting down on her bed and opening her pouch.

 **Two hours later.**

The Good Hunter stood up after the long selection process, and inspected her current gear.

She wore the coat, gloves and boots of the Hunter known as Maria, who she fought and slayed inside the Astral Clocktower. The duel was quite a spectacle, and the woman truly pushed The Good Hunter to her limits.

Her headgear was a personalized bitbit of gear she wore only when facing powerful foes. It consisted of a foreign black hood, which covered the strong iron Yahar'Gul helmet. It offered superb protection, while also hiding the face of whoever wears it. As for her weapon, she needed something inconspicuous, something that wouldn't draw a large amount of attention. Of course, that was what she needed, not what she wanted.

On her back was a greatsword of a fairly standard design. The half of the blade closest to the hilt seemed to he wrapped in bandage, but that was the only special thing about it. Of course, looks can be deceiving. And in this case, they were. They were quite deceptive.

She reached to pull the blade from her back, and ran her hand across the blade, feeling a sudden surge of Arcane energy surging through her body and into the sword, causing a beautiful blade to emerge from the sword, glowing a color reminiscent of the moonlight and covered in ornate designs. The Holy Moonlight Sword was an incredible weapon indeed. Of course, she couldnt just walk around with it like this, so she deactivated the blade and placed it in a simple sheath on her back.

Her gun however, wasn't as simple. Since this place was so incredibly technologically advanced, she could assume nobody carried flintlock pistols around. So she had to find a gun that least didnt resemble a flintlock pistol.

Thats when her eyes landed on the Gatling Gun.

She toted the weapon with relative ease due to her immense strength, but it would usually not be her first choice of a firearm due to how many bullets it chewed through. However, she had made a rather amazing discovery. When she tried to load the bullets into the machine, she found that it immediately spat them back out at her. Confused, she looked down the barrel to find it completely black, not even her lantern could light up the abyss inside her gun. With no way to load, she tried pulling the trigger to see if anything happened. She was met with a loud bang and a hole in her wall.

Needless to say, she was set. The new clothes also helped her be rid of even the slightest hints of blood wafting off of her. Having nothing else to do for the night, she turned to the console in her room, turning both it and the television on.

Tonight would be the night that she killed the Frostskulker.

 **The Next Morning...**

The Good Hunter really needed to kill something right now, and a simple pack of Dogoos wouldn't do. Maybe if she was lucky she would run into one of those blue wolfs, or maybe even another Cleric Beast.

'Right, as if im that lucky.' She thought to herself. Last night was quite eventful, and the bullet hole proved to be only the first hole in the wall that would be created that night. Many fist-sized holes followed, and she ended the night collapsing into bed, rage clouding her every thought.

'Fucking Froststalker.'

She was taken out of her thoughts by a strange sound to her left. Looking in the direction of the sound, she was met with a most odd creature.

It was green and had two, quite prominent horns on it's head, each colored yellow. It had a mouth, which was colored red and could be seen through. What manner of Beast was this?

She had no time to think as the thing flung itself towards her, actually catching her off guard and slamming right into her chest, before falling on it's back. The Good Hunter would not stagger from such a weak attack, and brought her blade up, before letting gravity do the work and letting the blade fall directly on the thing, nearly bisecting it in a small explosion of blue hexagonal crystals, before the creature shattered. She sighed, before taking her weapon and resting it over her shoulder.

'Just as weak as the rest of them.' She thought, before moving on. She had taken a quest to slay more of the hostile flowers, but she couldn't be bothered to actively hunt them down, she would collapse from the mind numbing experience that was. Instead, she went in search of powerful Beasts to take her rage out on, and would kill any flowers she happened to come across. So far she had been hunting for 8 minutes shy of an hour, and had killed eight of the required 15 flowers. And she had encountered zero Beasts worth her time.

Either powerful Beasts were just that rare, or other people had gotten to them before she could. And while thinking about the latter made her quite angry, the amount of pitiful excuses for Beasts wandering about made her believe it was the truth.

Ten more minutes passed.

Another Dogoo, dead.

Ten turned to thirty.

Her rage was increasing.

Thirty turned to sixty.

She had killed the last flower ten minutes ago, but she didn't care. She would find a powerful Beast to kill.

She didn't even notice that she was grinding her teeth rather loudly, but even if she had, she probably wouldn't have cared if she did know.

She didnt care to notice how dark it had gotten, or how to sun replaced the moon. She had killed countless Beasts on her hunt, and showed no sign of stopping until she got what she wanted. She didnt count, but she could hazard a guess thay her kill count had to be somewhere in the mid to low hundreds at this point.

That was when she saw it. In the mud to her right.

A footprint. A large, three toed footprint with claws on them. From what she could tell, the thing had four legs. Looking at the direction of the footprints, she saw that she had gotten incredibly close to a desert area. How far did she go?

She didn't care, all she cared about was finding what made these tracks, and gutting it. She stepped out into the desert, seeing tracks in the cracked land. She followed them, intent to find the source. She would walk five hundred miles to find this thing, without rest.

She needed this, and it would be glorious.


	5. A Bloodied Goddess 5

**Apologies for this Chapter being comparatively short to the others and for it kinda being all over the place. The next one will be longer and more focused.**

'How the fuck did I let myself end up in this situation?' The Good Hunter thought to themselves as they were thrown into a tree, quickly recovering as she stood, weapons ready to strike as the two sides seemed to reach a break in the fighting.

'Apparently they are more resourceful than I thought.' Admitted The Good Hunter, eyes burning behind her helmet and out at her foes.

The Goddess of Planeptune, in the flesh. As well as being flanked by IF and Compa, The former looking angrily at her and the latter looking quite sad.

"Stop this! Just come with us, we dont have to fight!" Shouted the Goddess, looking sternly at The Good Hunter, holding her weapon at the ready, which held a strange resemblance to the rifle spear, functioning as a blade and a gun.

The Good Hunter walked forward, her armor charred and cut, blood leaking from her wounds as she walked, while her foes had at the worst lacerations. Broken bones were also a factor, her gun arm twisted on account of Compa who had whacked her giant syringe into her. The only reason she hadn't taken blood was because they just somehow kept the pressure on perfectly, never giving her an opening. The only time she had one was dashed, as IF sliced the strap on her pouch, letting it fall to the ground. She was probably going to die if she didn't submit.

"Not a chance in hell."

Her words looked like they bit at their souls, especially Compa who looked on the verge of tears after that. She brought her broken arm up as much as she could, as well as her sword before channeling arcane into the blade, causing it to glow with the moon. It lit up her armored face, the helmet and hood beaten and battered. The Goddess certainly lived up to her name. Bringing the blade over her shoulder, she looked up at them, a fire burning in her eyes.

"I'd rather die in my Hunt than go out in some pansy jail cell!" She shouted, bringing her blade up and charging. The Goddess also charged, bringing up her own blade as well as a look of sorrow across her face.

The Good Hunter smirked at her ploy, sidestepping at the very last moment, bringing her blade from over her shoulder to slice into th-

 **'Oh, Nep-jr'**

The Good Hunter fell to the ground with a sudden yell, her weapon clattering to the floor with her. Her head felt as if it was about to explode, with thousands of tiny worms biting away at her brain. What just happened? She looked around, her vision beginning to blur. She could feel her body start to become cold, and that's when she noticed her head wasn't the only thing in pain. Running a hand across her chest, there was a huge laceration that ran across her hips and went about as deep as her tailbone. The Goddess was staring in shock at her weapon as if it was a foreign object, drowned in ichor.

Well, death wasn't a new concept to her. But if this really was her last time, then...

"Huh... Never thought I would go out like this... Especially by your hand, Goddess." She said, blood leaking from her mouth. She couldn't hear much, her hearing being all fuzzy, but she could make out a few things.

"Compa...Fir...Id...Param...ics..."

"The moon... Sure is pretty tonight..." She said, looking down at the ground and facing away from the ones who had bested her, sliding her helmet off her head, purple bangs flying down, before she put the last nail in the coffin. This ought to get some good reactions from IF and Compa.

'Payback, assholes...'

She pulled back her hood, and looked past the three straight at the moon. Dull, purple eyes and vibrant purple hair exposed for the world to see. She smirked at the sound of IF stumbling back and lightly gasping, Compa crying out,(And probably crying as well), and the Goddess... Was silent. Of course, she probably didn't know who she was so she wasnt hit as hard as the other two. But it was only after IF and Compa immediately rushed to her aid in a futile effort to save her, that she noticed the Goddess was silently crying, quite heavily in fact. She had collapsed on her knees before being enveloped in a light. When she came out of it, she had changed. She had the same hair as The Good Hunter, and on her hair was...

A purple and white plus hairpin.

Thats when The Good Hunter remembered.

She had seen this girl right next to her in that picture in Compa's house, and currently she was standing right over The Good Hunter, tears falling from her face like a waterfall while she screamed something and wore a face of utter horror so strong that The Good Hunter could easily tell what it was even with her blurry eyesight.

It was actually kinda funny. The Good Hunter would've laughed if Death's hand wasn't on her shoulder.

'Well, I suppose it's time I go. Life here is boring, anyway...' She thought as black spots began to fill her vision, and breathing became harder and harder. Her eyes eventually shut for good, and her lungs filled with air for the last time.

 **Flashback**

The Good Hunter shoved the entire blade through the neck of the giant, winged reptile before her. Slicing downward, she creates a massive laceration in the beast, raining crystals all over her as the beast exploded in the things before quickly dissipating. She looked at the sky, before calmly taking breaths.

Man, she really fucking needed that.

She began to walk away, her lust for combat satisfied for the time being. It wasnt until she passed through a more vegetated area with a few trees and plants that she stopped, and it was due to a loud voice booming behind her.

"Stop right there!" an unknown voice demanded, quickly turning she was met with two familiar faces, and one she had only seen from a distance.

The Goddess of Planeptune was before her, hovering and wielding a strange weapon. Flanking her was IF, holding a pair of claws, and Compa, who was lugging a giant syringe.

'Damnit, how did they track me so quickly?' The Good Hunter thought behind grinding teeth as she turned ti fully face the three.

"Well, it seems you found me much sooner than I had anticipated." She said, hands gripping on her weapons.

"Why? Why did you kill those people?" IF shouted, edge to her voice as she looked at The Good Hunter, venom dripping from her voice.

"It's not my fault they decided to do the things they did, IF. The scum got what they deserved in full." Retorted The Good Hunter, causing Compa to wordlessly stumble.

It was then that the Goddess stepped forward. Or, more hovered forward.

"I don't know how anyone could say that, but you are being brought in for Murder. Nobody has anything to gain from taking a life." The Goddess said, readying her weapon. "If you dont come with us, we will use force." She said, earning a smirk from The Good Hunter.

"Well then..." The Good Hunter said, Bringing her gatling gun around. "You best hope you have enough of it." She said, before raining hell on the three.

 **Flashback end.**

The Good Hunter slowly felt her eyes open, and found herself looking up at a dark sky, light fog between her and it.

'What the...' She thought, before standing. She realized her entire body had been repaired, as well as her armor and weapons.

"Is this the afterlife then?" She asked herself, dusting off her attire. "Rather rude awak-" She stopped and widened her eyes when she looked at her surroundings, realizing they were all too familiar.

There was a mound before her, and atop that mound was a building.

She had seen that building before.

A workshop.

The Hunters Workshop.

'No way... No fucking way.' She thought as she walked over to the steps, noticing the great tree off to her right. Walking in. she noticed everything was as it should have been in this place. It was exactly how she had remembered it.

Yet it was all so wrong.

She grit her teeth. Of all the places, why come back here? She submit her life to her old mentor for a reason! She enjoyed a hunt, yes, but this place... She would give anything to be somewhere else. Hell, even Gameindustri would be preferable.

That's when she noticed that she hadn't seen a soul since she got here.

The Plain Doll was always there to greet and comfort The Good Hunter when she returned, but she hadn't seen her upon entering. Leaving the workshop, she looked to where the Doll would usually be, to find her not there. She looked in the graveyard, finding nothing there as well.

"Damnit! WHERE IS EVERYONE!" She yelled out, recieving nothing for a reaponse. She kicked a tombstone, creating a small crack before walking back down to the Doll area. That was when she noticed something.

All of the headstones that brought her to other parts of the world were shattered. And in it's place was a horribly out of place headstone, which was colored purple, black, white and green with an N in the center. It looked similar to the Yharnam headstone, and when she approached it, words formed on it.

It read: Abandoned house.

"Damn... Well, I dont have anywhere else to go, now do I?" She asked herself, before focusing on the headstone and feeling it whisk her away to the abandoned house.

"So im not free after all..." She thought to herself as she left the Hunter's Dream.

 **Line Break.**

She felt her consciousness being reformed as usual, and opened her eyes. She was standing in her bedroom. It was exactly the same as she remembered it. The console, the boarded up windows, even the holes in the wall. She checked herself over, finding that she wore the same armor and held the same weapons, all in mint condition. The only thing that she actually noticed was missing was her Guild card. She sighed, somewhat annoyed that Gehrman had lied to her about being freed from the dream.

'Bah, the hell can I do about it, anyway...' She thought, moving over to the door. Stepping through it, she entered the hall and descended the steps, entering the ground floor. She made her way over to the back door, before opening it and exiting the building.

She was met with a cool breeze and a bright, cloudless sky. It was day.

'Huh... Must've skipped ahead a bit.' She walked away from the area and soon found herself in a more populated district, which she was not all too fond of. But considering where she was going, she shouldn't be too surprised. She looked up at the largest building in the city, her ultimate destination.

The Basilicom.

There was only so much she could gain from a single picture in Compa's house, so the Basilicom was the place that made the most sense to dig up information on herself. After all, that was where the Goddess resided. And if that picture was anything to go off of, the two were pretty close. She even had the same hairpin as she did. Hell, it was almost like they were sisters.

'Yeah, that's not possible.'

The Good Hunter pushed the thought to the back of her head as she walked in the direction of the signs that said 'Basilicom.', which oddly enough seemed to cause her to not get any closer to the building. Eventually, she found herself climbing stairs which led to a platform, which led to the strange tube where people hovered. Stepping on the platform, she was reasonably cautious about it, but the sight of everyday men and women just floating along boosted her confidence.

'If this doesn't work, that's just one more death added to the count.' She reasoned, before blindly stepping forward onto nothing.

Before her feet were caught by green hexagons, which quickly dissapeared.

The Good Hunter heaved a sigh of relief, before reaching for a sedative in her pouch.

'Why the hell did that make me so worried?' She thought to herself, drinking the sedative as she felt herself calming. She looked to the Basilicom, finding that they were moving rather quickly. She figured it would take 5 minutes for her to get there, so she idly stood, waiting to be dropped off. Four minutes had passed, without much happening. Eventually, just as they were about to fly over to the Basilicom, her eyes landed on another platform, eyes drawn by bright the bright colors blue and-

'Oh fuck me.' The Good Hunter thought to herself, before immediately shoving her hand into her pouch, searching for a Blue Elixir.

IF and Compa had just entered the... thing. Miraculously, they hadn't noticed her yet, but she knew that if she didn't act quick, they would be on her in seconds. Palming a Blue Elixir, she swiftly tore the cork off and began to chug the Elixir faster than she ever had, seeing the effects take place immediately. She sighed, before looking back over to the pair. She saw Compa looking at where she once stood, rubbing her eyes as they grew slightly wet. She quickly shook her head, before turning to face IF. That's when The Good Hunter realized. Where they got on was the last platform before the Basilicom. They were headed the same place she was going. She took a quick count of her remaining Blue Elixir, somewhat dismayed that she only had one left.

Well, she just had to make good use of it. Stepping off the hexagon carrier thing, she bolted to the entrance of the Basilicom, weaving past folks that got in her way. She surged into the building, and was met with what looked to be a reception area, which had elevators and corridors at the back. Silently sprinting to the elevators, she furiously spammed a button on the wall next to the thing, eventually being rewarded with the door opening.

And then being punished by her Blue Elixir wearing off.

She ignored a sudden cry of a receptionist, and lunged forward into the vacant elevator. She pressed the top floor button, and the machine did the rest of the work. Heaving a relieved sigh, she takes the last Blue Elixir in her hands and chugs it down, hiding her from vision once again. And just in time too, as the elevator door opened. Silently stepping out, she was met with a door that seemed to lead to a bigger room qhead of her, and a hallway that led to side rooms off to her right, while also having a doorway for the large room. She was about to step into the large room, but voices brought her to an instant halt.

"And you're absolutely sure it was her?" Said an unknown voice.

"Yes... There was no mistaking it." Said a familiar voice. It was the one belonging to the Goddess.

"She even had the hairpins?" Asked a second unknown voice. The Good Hunter turned and chose to walk down the hallway instead. The first room she looked into was a bathroom, much like the one at Compa's house. Moving beyond that, there was a kitchen. This one looked much more advanced than the one at Compa's and her own. Passing the doorway, she was able to sneak a peak at four figures sitting on a couch. There was the Goddess, but she was surrounded by three unknown figures, who seemed to be consoling her. One had twin pigtails for hair, which was colored jet black. They were being held up by two ribbons, and she was wearing somewhat normal clothing conpared to some others she had met here. The second had, yet again, a bust that seemed far too large to be natural. Her hair was blonde and flowed behind her down to her back. She wore mostly green attire. The last was rather short, and had ear length brown hair. She seemed to be wearing a sort of coat with the sleeves detached, and filled with brown fur.

'Must be friends of The Goddess.' She guessed, before moving on and taking a look at the last two rooms. The one on the left, sadly, was locked. It read 'Neptune's room.' which was written on some paper and taped next to the door over what looked to be the actual title for the room. Damnit, that might have given her some insight as to her current situation and/or confirm her identity. Looking to the other room, it was labeled 'Nepgear.' And was written in a fancy font on top of a very fancy brass square. This one, fortunately, was unlocked. She slowly opened the door, and peeked inside to ensure the coast was clear, not seeing a single soul. She entered the room, closing the door behind her quietly.

Looking back in the room, she found it was very neat. There was a large bed, easily meant for two. There was a bedside table with a lamp and a cup on it, and on the wall in front of the bed was a television. There was a clost off to the right of the bed, and a large dresser to the left. The back wall was not a wall, but instead a very large window that stretched across the entire room. Overall, it was pretty normal.

Aside from one thing.

Against the back wall was a table. On that table was a picture frame and two vases of flowers, alongside a sheathed blade next to it. Approaching the table, she noticed that inside of the picture frame was a picture of herself, albeit cleaner and way too happy looking. Same hair, same face, same hairclips. Pulling the broken one from her pouch, she held it in her hand and looked at the picture one more time.

"Was this girl really me?..." She whispered to herself. It was so hard to believe, yet they were far too similar for it to be coincidental. Moving on to the blade, she removed it from it's sheath and took a look at it. It had a slight resemblance to the Chikage weapon, but the blade aeemed to be more curved, the guard was circular and was more colorful. The Good Hunter couldn't help but feel an odd sense of familiarity when she held the blade. It was almost as if she had held the exact same one...

The Good Hunter stumbled back, setting the weapon on the table. She quickly got to digging her hand into her pouch. She took out a sword that looked very much like the one on the table, the only major difference being that it was soaked in old, dry blood and the blade was snapped halfway.

This was the weapon she used when she had no other, the one she used when her hunt began. It was a fine blade, and served her well. Until the other half of the blade was snapped off and lodged into the chest of a Cleric Beast during their bout on the bridge. Under the blood and grime, she could barely make out the colors of the blade, them being the exact same as the one before her.

She placed the blade back into her pouch, before sighing and looking back to the picture. The evidence just added up that well, did it?

She must've been this Neptune girl at one point. There was no denying that now.

She also made no wish of becoming this Neptune girl ever again. She was a Hunter now, not some excited, naive looking young girl. But if she used to be as close to this Goddess as she was, then having her accept that sooner or later could be an issue.

The Good Hunter was so deep in thought that she did not hear the sound of the door opening, nor did she notice her Blue Elixir wearing off.

A sudden scream was enough to pull her from her thoughts, and looked to the door immediately. She was met with the sigh of the Goddess staring at her, hands over her mouth with the other three people flanking her.

"Goddamnit!" The Good Hunter cursed under her breath as she swiftly brought the pommel of her Holy Moonlight Sword to the glass wall, shattering the pane with ease.

"WAIT!" She heard the Goddess yell as she leapt, aiming for the large fountain at the base of the Basilicom. Even with the water cushioning her landing, it would still hurt like hell. Fortunately, she had experienced pain before. Broken legs wouldn't stop her-

The Good Hunter gasped as her freefall was suddenly and abruptly halted, causing her weapons to tear themselves loose from her fingers and plummit to the ground, alonside her helmet and hood which flew off her face. She grite her teeth, even though she knew they would simply reappear in her pouch later. She turned to see who had caught her, and her annoyed and dead eyes met with teary and sad eyes of the Goddess in her winged form, who held her by both of her legs.

'Bastard... Im not getting out of this one.' She thought as she sneered at the Goddess, which only seemed to cause her more pain as she lifted her back to the Basilicom by her leg. She sighed. Even if they capture her, she could just use a Bold Hunters Mark-

She mentally facepalmed. Of course, that was how she would get out of this! She went to reach for her pouch, when her eyes narrowed in shock.

It was gone, it likely fell off when she was pulled. It would appear in The Hunters Dream anytime it was separated from her, but a major annoyance nonetheless. She crossed her arms and sighed, watching as she was brought back into the bedroom and set on the floor, before she quickly stood. She looked at the four figures, who all wore an expression of shock, sadness and some happiness. Before any of them could even get a word out, her expression soured.

"...Can't you just take the hint that I want nothing to do with you." She said, looking at the Goddess with cold, dead eyes and enough venom dripping from her voice to kill the largest of beasts. Clearly catching them by surprise, the Goddess began to lightly cry before speaking.

"...N-Neptune? Sis? Is that you?" She asked.

"Not anymore." Responded Neptune.


	6. A Bloodied Goddess 6

Neptune was annoyed, to say the least.

First, she lost her weapons and headgear. Then she was met with the realization her pouch had also left her, and now she had been forced to sit on a couch and face several people, four of which she didn't even know. The ones she did know, being IF, Compa and the Goddess, acted no differently from the other four.

And it felt like an eternity she had been sitting before them in silence, slowly growing more and more irritated.

"Sis... What happened to you?" Asked the Goddess, her voice quivering and face still wetted with tears.

"...You dont deserve to know." Responded Neptune.

"Excuse me?" Asked the raven haired woman in an angry voice. "You dissapeared for over a year. As your fellow CPU's I think we DO deserve to know where you've been." Stated the girl.

'Im not sure who this whore thinks she is, but she is already getting me pissed.' Thought Neptune.

"Why the fuck would I tell you things like that when I dont even know you, bitch."

Everyone in the room seemed to recoil at something, which The Good Hunter chalked up to her sudden use of profanities.

That was when the small thing floating on a book spoke up.

"...Well, it would appear Neptune is suffering from amnesia once again." It said. Amnesia? Again?

"Well, shouldn't we just do things to jog her memory?" suggested IF.

"While that may work, I have a feeling that this case is much more severe than her previous one." Stated the floating thing. Her words seemed to strike everyone in the room.

"What do you mean?" Asked the big, blonde one.

"I feel it will take much longer for her to regain her memories, if she is able to regain them at all. Whatever she did while she was gone clearly had a large effect on her." Explained the book thing.

"You think?" Remarked the short, brown haired one.

"So... She might never fully remember us?" Asked the Goddess, hope draining away from her.

"It is very possible." Admitted the Book, causing a very heavy air to suffocate the room.

"...What a waste of my damn time." Said Neptune, giving an annoyed huff. "Can I get fucking going now? I have Beasts to kill." She said, casting a dead, freezing gaze to the others in the room. It seemed to effect most in the room... except for one.

A bright flash engulfed the room, and when it died down, The Good Hunter turned to the source to see a new girl standing in the place of the brunette. She had blue hair and red eyes, and she wore an incredibly pissed off expression as she summoned an overly large axe out of thin air.

"You're not going anywhere until you tell us what the hell happened to you." Said the girl.

"Blanc, please dont-" The blonde one was cut off by... laughing.

Dark, disturbing laughter.

It was coming from the couch.

It was coming from Neptune.

She kept her sinister laugh going for a few seconds, before casting a glare to this Blanc girl that only a dead person could give.

"You really don't know what you're getting in to, girl." She said, remaining in her seat

"Shut your trap! You will tell us what you fucking did, or I will beat it out of you!"

"Blanc, ple-"

"Stay out of this!"

"You think you can fight me, girl? I will put your sorry ass into the ground in less than a second."

"The hell was that? Want to test that theory?"

"I would love to, you overconfident whor-"

 **"STOP IT!"** And just like that, the whole room went silent. Any tension that was in the room was blown away by that yell. Neptune turned to see the Goddess looking at the girl, tears streaming from her face like a waterfall.

"Blanc... Neptune... Please, dont do this... After all this time... You want to fight? Just after reuniting?" She choked out, causing Blanc to lower her weapon and her gaze to slightly soften.

The Good Hunter wasn't as lenient, though.

"Hm. You seem to care a good amount for someone you **_killed."_**

It seemed like all the oxygen was sucked out of the room with those words.

Nobody said anything.

Nobody did anything.

Everyone just looked at her with the most shocked and disturbed face. Even Blanc looked appalled.

The Goddess was easily the most striken. As the words left her mouth, she saw her eyes narrow considerably, before she began to shake and sob. She collapsed to her knees.

For some reason, the sight of that felt... wrong, to The Good Hunter.

She didn't regret her words, not in the slightest. But something about them felt like they were never supposed to leave her lips.

She sighed, and looked around. Some of them went to support the Goddess, while others looked at her in disgust. Immense anger in Blancs case.

She sighed, before she spoke again.

"You want to know where I went? You want to know what happened to me? Even if you could understand, your minds wouldn't be able to comprehend all of it." She stated, standing.

"...The hell does that fuckin' mean?" Questioned Blanc, who looked as if she was using every last ounce of her willpower to not raise hell in the room.

"It means what it sounds like, girl. But if you truly do want to risk your sanity, I suppose I could tell you." She sighed. She wasn't too sure why she was agreeing to tell them. She knew the dangers it brought, yet she was doing it anyway. Somewhere inside her it felt like...

The right thing to do?

She scoffed out loud. Whatever part of her that was telling her that clearly was rotten.

"Where do you think you're going?" Asked the raven haired girl.

"You want me to tell you the truth, dont you?" She asked, receiving somewhat hesitant nods and no response at all from the Goddess, who seemed to be in a vegetative state if she was being honest.

"Then I'll need to collect my things." She stated, and walked over to the elevator, ignoring any cries of protest as she entered it and moved to the ground floor.

Exiting the elevator, she swiftly moved to the exit of the Basilicom, moving to the left after she moved down the stairs and ran along the fountain, her eyes looking for the glint of her sword. It wasn't very hard to spot, as the fountain wasn't all that deep. She entered it, the water seeping into her clothing as she sloshed over to her arms, collecting them and storing them properly, before moving over to her pouch which had landed a few feet short of the weapons. Slinging it over her shoulder. She waded through the water a few feet to the right, and picked up her helmet, immediately putting it back on. She felt... Whole again. She leapt over the barrier for the fountain, and walked along it before she came upon the steps, dripping all the way. Her eyes shifted temporarily to look at the floating girl above her, who had been watching her the moment she left the Basilicom. She had white hair and a black bodysuit, along with wings. She recognized the girl as one of the people flying over the forest that day, and she had not been doing a very good job of staying hidden.

That's when it clicked

She had seen the blue haired girl there with the Goddess as well. The only one missing was the green one, and she could make a guess as to who that was.

'Are they all Goddesses?' She questioned herself as she entered the Basilicom, moving across the room. Approaching the elevator, she called for it and waited. It opened, allowing her entry. Selecting the same floor, she ascended the building. Looking into her pouch, she frowned.

'They probably won't believe me. That doesn't make this any easier, though...' She sighed as she pulled something out. A terrible weapon that she despised, yet accepted as her ace in the hole. She placed it on her belt, and stared at it for a moment.

The Beast Claw.

The elevator opened, and she exited it. Entering the couch room, she was met with... Unfriendly and sad looks as she sat down on the couch. She sighed, and spoke.

"What im about to tell you, I have no doubt that some will be unable to stomach. You may not keep your sanity." She warned, causing Compa to shuffle and grab onto IF's coat tightly.

"I don't care..." Said the Goddess. "Tell me what happened to make you like... This... I dont care what happens." She said, looking at her with sad eyes. Despite that however, The Good Hunter could see a burning determination mixed in.

She huffed, and began to tell her tale, starting from the moment she woke up in that clinic.

 **Three hours later...**

"I did warn you, did I not?"

The Good Hunter said without any emotion as she looked at the people before you. Some where in the fetal position, crying, (The Goddess and Compa). Another had gone to the bathroom, followed by sounds of retching, and had not come out since. (The blonde one.) And all the others looked at her with incredibly disturbed and disgusted looks.

"What the fuck..." Blanc said.

"I must agree with Blanc... That was a rather revolting tale." Agreed the Raven one.

"While that tale was quite horrid, I was unable to pick up any signs of a person lying." The book thing stated.

"So you're saying that everything she just said was true?.." IF said, looking incredibly worried as she run her fingets through Compa's hair in an attempt to comfort her.

"Im not saying that. It's always a possibility she hid her lies very well."

Neptune audible chuckled at that. "If I wanted to lie about where I had been for the past year or so your time, I could have come up with something much more glamorous or believable than that." She stated, running her fingers over the barrels of her Gatling Gun.

"No, I want proof that what you just said wasn't all bullshit." Said Blanc, to which The Good Hunter scoffed.

"What, the armor, the weapons, hell even the RESURRECTION wasn't proof enough for you?" She rhetorically asked, eliciting a "Tch" from Blanc, before the Raven one pointed a finger at her.

"For all we know, that armor could be handcrafted by you. And those weapons dont look all to special eith-"

"Don't look too special, eh?" She asked with a smirk, before she stood and ran a hand over the blade, channeling arcane into it. Sure enough, the blade was engulfed in moonlight and a thick, glowing blade was produced. She laughed at the girl who's eyes had widened and stepped back.

"Do you believe me now, girl?" She closed her eyes and looked away. It was then that she heard a distressed whimpering, to which she turned and saw The Goddess staring at the glowing blade with terrified eyes. No doubt it reminded her of when she killed her.

Good. She shouldn't forget killing someone.

Suddenly, her attention was brought to the Blonde one, who had just reentered the room looking rather pale.

"I-I do apologize for that. The story was just much too gruesome for me." She stated. The Good Hunter then sighed. It was time to ask the big question.

"So what are you lot going to do with me now? I doubt you'll just let me go after what I did to those men, but now that you know who I am? Hmm, I wonder..." She asked, a chilling grin on her face.

The floating book person sighed, before she got to rubbing her temples with her hands. "While I can understand why you would kill those men after what you did, it still does not make it right. However, jail time will only worsen this situation, I fear..."

"Well, whatever you choose makes little difference to me. If you choose to keep me here, so be it. If you want me gone, that's fine. If you try to kill me? Good fucking luck." She stated, enjoying seeing them all wince at her new, well, new for them, aggressive and disturbing personality. That, and how easily she threw around foul language.

"I believe we should all convene and come up with a course of action." Suggested the floating book thing, who recieved nods and vocalized agreements from everyone as they stood, some more shaky than others. They all then left the room. The Good Hunter finally got a chance to calm down and level her head. That whole situation got her really heated, and she sighed as she stood. What was she supposed to do? She doubted they would be in and out in 5 minutes, so she looked around the room. Her eyes landed on the same purple and white game console, connected to the television.

'Why the hell not? I doubt they'll come out anytime soon.'

She moved over and activated the console, which was followed up with the television. She sat on the floor in front of it. She looked through the list of games, eventually settling on one titled 'Spiritcaliber'. It was a fighting game, so she should be great at it. Right? After all, she beat Compa easily enough.

 **30 minutes later**

The AI in this game was really challenging. It had kicked her ass 7 times now, she would NOT let that happen again. She would NOT let this scantily clad woman with a bastardized threaded cane beat her again.

She even removed her helmet to get a complete view of the screen.

Neptune was so into the game that she didn't notice that the others had finished discussions, and were now watching her in awe. Where did the cold, sadistic person from before go? Why had this red faced person come and replaced her? She actually looked way into it. She was sweating, never taking her eyes off the screen. She barely even blinked. She somehow looked actually _worried._

'I suppose some things never change...' Thought the floating book person.

Suddenly, they were all taken by surprise when the girl let out an awesome victory yell and slammed the controller on the ground, nearly breaking it.

 **"FUCKING FINALLY! EAT SHIT AND DIE, YOU BIG TITTIED TRASH! FUCK YOU AND YOUR SWORD-WH-"**

She cut herself off when she realised everyone had been watching her.

What happened next, was something nobody could have expected.

She began to _stutter._ And then, as if that wasnt enough, _she looked **embarrassed.**_ The girl that had been through hell and had given the others just as much, was **_embarrassed_** because they caught her celebrating defeating a video game boss.

'Maybe there's still some hope for her?' Hoped The Goddess, as they watched her scramble for her helmet, which she quickly fastned. And just like that, it was as if nothing ever happened.

"So... What did you all decide on?"

The book thing floated forward. "We have decided that you will be doing guild work as a form of punishment. And we dont mean just a few low level quests." It stated. She was fine with that, maybe the higher level quests would offer her some fun.

"We are also making you stay here at the Basilicom while we try to unlock your memories."

Aaaaand just like that, her tolerance instantly decreased. Staying here would mean no access to her home console, which meant she would never be able to defeat the Frostskulker! That, and she had a general dislike for most, if not everyone in the room. No way she was staying here.

Unless...

"As long as I get to retrieve the things from my home and relocate them here, I will abide by this. For now." She agreed. It then spoke again.

"Very well. You will be allowed to bring items from your old domicile and bring them here." She agreed.

She sighed. Was this really going to work? She didn't _hate_ the company of others per se, she just _preferred_ being alone.

'I suppose some contact is inevitable. If it will get them off my back, I will go along with it.'

"Very well." Her words seemed to alleviate some of the tension in the room.

"So, what are all your names? Aside from Blanc, Compa and IF." She said plainly. Her words seemed to send a pang of pain through some of them, but she waved it off.

"I am Histoire. Oracle of Planeptune." Said the floating book person.

"I-Im Nepgear. Goddess of Planeptune... And your little sister." She said, That last part made her huff in slight annoyance, which didn't go unnoticed by her, as was evident by how she looked to the ground dejectedly.

"Im Noire, Goddess of Lastation. More commonly referred to as Lady Black Heart." Said the one with Raven hair.

"Im Vert. Goddess of Leanbox. Most usually call me Lady Green Heart, however." Said the Blonde.

She sighed, but nodded at her answers. As much as she would rather not be forced to stay here, she doesn't have much of a choice. Just one of these Goddesses gave her a run for her money. Although she was being backed up by those two...

"Neptune, I want to ask you something." Spoke Histoire.

"Go ahead then." She responded.

"These... Beasts you spoke of in your story. Could they possibly find their way here?" She asked, worried. And this question seemed to worry all others in the room as well.

"Oh, they've already found their way here." She said in a plain tone.

For a second, you would have been able to hear a pin drop. She chuckled slightly, as she watched the information digest, and their expressions turn from confusion to shock.

 ** _"WHAT?!"_** They all simultaneously screeched, causing The Good Hunter to rub a hand around her right ear.

"Oh yes. I've already encountered a Cleric Beast, so I imagine that it's only a matter of time before other Beasts make their way here."

The Good Hunter heard voices beginning to rise and could feel it getting louder. Why her... Honestly, why her...

"But, I wouldn't worry too much." She said, walking over to the glass window, gaining confused looks. "I may have glossed over this, but to my knowledge, the Beast Scourge can only spread through blood ministration. Therefore, unless your people get any stupid ideas, you should be fine." She explained, gaining uncertain sighs of slight relief.

"Well, what about the Beasts that make it here?" Questioned Blanc, who had returned to her other, calmer form.

"Well... That's easy." The Good Hunter said, bringing her sword to bear.

"After all, a Hunter must Hunt, yes?" She earned some shaken looks after that sudden dark turn, which she ignored as she slid her weapon back into the sheath on her back.

"Well, I doubt these Beasts will be similar to the Monsters we have here. Any advice you can give us would be greatly appreciated." Said Histoire.

"Well, I suppose a generous Hunter such as myself could bestow upon ye some information." She sarcastically said, a smirk on her face. Before anyone could get on her case over it though, she began.

"Rule number One." She held up one finger. "Getting bloody is part of the job. When you fight these Beasts, you will get their blood on you. You need to embrace that, and accept that it is a fact that they are weakening. For every hit that draws blood, you know for a fact that your enemy is one step closer to being another corpse on the ground." She said. Her sudden and swift changing of the mood did not go unnoticed, and a few people gulped.

"Number two." She held up another finger. "Fire." She said, pulling an unlit molotov cocktail from her pouch. "Fire can be your saving grace from a Beast, so be sure you always have a firestarter on you. Only real challenge here is getting used to the scent of charred flesh and melting skin." She did not seem to be making the atmosphere any better.

"And last but not least, Rule Number Three." She stuck up one last finger. "Never, EVER be afraid." She said, a freezing voice emanating from her lips.

"Im not gonna sugarcoat this. During a hunt, you're gonna see nasty, grotesque, scary and downright unnatural things that shouldnw't be alive, but they all have a common goal: To skullfuck you until you have no skull left to be fucked." She crudely stated, earning some unreadable expressions from some and... embarrassed looks from others? Why where they getting all Hot'n'bothered over literally being killed like that...

"But being afraid of those things will get you killed. Fear can cause you to mistime a dodge, or second-guess yourself halfway through an attack. The Beast may be your enemy, but Fear is the killer." She announced. She gained some... concerned looks, but she paid them no mind.

"Now, since you've all been so kind as to lock me up here, im going to have to bring my things here. And since I dont really want to walk all the way there and back..." She swapped her Gatling Gun for a Blunderbuss. 'Want to make this as messy as possible for em.' She thought, bringing the firearm to bear. She ignored the cries of alarm as she fluidly brought the weapon so that the barrel was aiming at her chin, before pulling the trigger.

She lied to them a bit. She also wanted to have them clean a huge fucking mess for the headache they're giving her.

 **Thanks for reading. I would like to thank Gamenian for helping me out with this story. He is currently writing Connection Lost, a RWBY/SCP Mythos crossover. It isn't much at the moment, but I suggest you read it nonetheless. Thanks for the continued support everyone.**


	7. A Bloodied Goddess 7

**I apologize for the longer than normal wait. School has grabbed me by the balls and has really limited the time I have to write. That, and I've been spending more time with my lads recently. I'll attempt to be more consistent, but I wont be able to give exact dates. I can confirm that there will be weekly uploads, however. Unless of course something comes up, in which case I will let you all know if something does. Regardless, I hope you enjoy.**

'Um... This is new.'

The Good Hunter, instead of reawakening in her own home, found herself inside a completely different room. It looked like it hadn't been cleaned, hell, even entered in at least ten months. There were small cobwebs in the corners of the room, and the room in general was just dusty. Although that door does look pretty familiar. It wasn't all that impressive looking, if she was being truly honest. Whoever lived here wasn't one for cleanliness. But then again, neither was she.

Looking around, she noticed there was a messy bed in a corner, with what looked like trash underneath it. There was a HUGE television that practically extended the length of the room, and it was connected to four, count em FOUR, video game consoles, two of which she had never seen. One was bulky and had white and green coloration, and the second was stark white and rather slim.

'Who would need so many damn game consoles? Don't people have anything else to do? Lazy sons of...'

Her thoughts trained off as she continued to look around. The rest of the room was rather barren. Aside from the thick layer of dust on everything, there was a bedside table with nothing on it but a lamp. There was also a dresser against the wall, and when she approached it she discovered it actually contained clothing. She pulled a garment out, and looked it over.

Her head began to pang in slight pain as she looked at it. Perhaps that was from the awful colors.

It was a rather strange garment. It seemed to be a thick coat with a hood attached to the neck. It was colored white and purple, and was soft to the touch. She liked the idea of the hood being attached to the coat itself, but it looked like it offered next to nothing in terms of actual protection, so she put it back in the dresser and closed it.

Moving away from that, she moved in the direction of a closet. However, she suddenly halted when she heard...Crying?

That's what it sounded like, anyway. And it was fairly obvious it was coming from outside the room, because it was heavily muffled and seemed to pass through the wall.

She would ignore it for now. It wasn't her problem. Better luck next time to the person who was currently bawling their eyes out.

Moving back over to the closet, she pulled the door open, and was met with dust flying into her face and helmet, she looked away for a moment as to not breathe in any particles, before turning back and looking inside. It was virtually barren, with the only thing inside being shoved in the corner. In fact, she would have missed it had it not flown over to her.

It was a rather large moth. And it seemed to be rather unhappy about The Good Hunter invading it's space, and it let her know by flying in her face in an attempt to intimidate her.

This, of course, resulted in failure for the moth and another kill for The Good Hunter. It was somewhat amusing though, to see such immense valor in the moth. If one could call it that.

Closing the closet, she noticed a small sliver of light seeping into the room through a window, which had been covered with blinds. Walking over, she pulled the blinds, light exploding into the room, causing her to cover her eyes for a few moments. Once her sight had adjusted, she looked out the window and was met with a very nice view of Planeptune. She was up very high, and to her left she could she a balcony on the same floor she was on.

'Huh... Looks like the Basilicom balco-'

She physically slapped herself for not figuring that out sooner. She was better than this!

So her new awakening point was this room in the Basilicom? Then that meant that the crying she heard earlier was probably that Nepgear girl, who probably didn't take too well to seeing her 'sister' blow her own brains out in the interest of saving time. Then again, it wasn't as if she cared about her.

She walked over to the door, turning the handle.

'...Locked?'

The door was locked. While a minor inconvenience at the most, she scowled at the method she normally used for this. There was no way more efficient, but it was an unholy waste of bull-

Oh. Right.

She backed up from the door, and dug into her pouch. Eventually, she founder herself toting a rather imposing weapon in the form of the Cannon. She smirked sadistically as she prepared to fire the weapon.

She put her hand over the lever...

She aimed at the door...

She pulled the lever...

 *** _BOOM*_**

The sound of the Cannon firing effectively drowned out any other noise. The sound of the wooden door utterly shattering, the ball passing through a multitude of other things, even that infernal. _goddamn. **CRYING.**_

She walked through the shattered remains of the door, and saw that the door was enough to alter the trajectory of the cannonball, as it was currently lodged into a wall. To the left, she noticed a very familiar door, and next to it was that same brass label. 'Nepgear.'

She turned around to face the room she just came out of, and on the wall next to the now splintered and annihilated door, was that same piece of paper taped on. 'Neptune.'

Well, at least she knew where she was now.

And if she was still new to this world, she woud have been surprised to hear a shocked gasping coming from her left. She sighed and turned around to face it, being met with the sight of Nepgear holding a hand over her mouth, eyes red and puffy.

She didn't even get a word out before she did something rather unexpected. She was exptecing her to get immensely angry with her after what she just did, and she would brush it off as per usual.

What she got was a purple and white missile heading straight for her, which wrapped itself around her waist, before the sounds of muffled sobbing reached her ears. She felt her clothing get damp.

The Good Hunter didn't know how to respond to this at all. She did find it somewhat annoying and aggravating that this girl suddenly latched herself to her body and began to cry again. But on the other side of the coin, it felt...nice? She couldn't really describe it. Either way, she couldnt really spare time for this. So she began to just... Walk.

She walked past the dumbfounded Goddesses who stared at her simply dragging Nepgear around as she held a death grip on the girl's waist, and was being dragged behind her to top it all off.

Neptune didn't really care for her public image, nor was she one to care about what other people thought of her. Antagonizing words and insults usually bounced off her, unless they hit a particularly sore spot or the person was just that damn annoying.

It sounded like the Goddesses made to follow her, but someone must have stopped them due to the sudden halt in footsteps behind her. So she walked to the elevator with the girl hanging on to her like she was her lifeline. Once they got to the elevator, it sounded like the crying had stopped. But she did not let go. In fact, just as Neptune pressed the button for ground floor, the girl, with rather alarming speed, stood up and latched to her back and held on like a vice. It all happened in probably less than a second, and the sudden change threw The Good Hunter off guard. Her arms were suddenly clasped together and held around her chest, while the girls legs wrapped around her waist as she held on like a backpack. She could hear and feel the shaky breathing on her back, but chose to ignore it. She would let go eventually, and if not she would simply remove her with force. The door to the elevator opened, and she walked out. Ignoring the alarmed looks and spittering of the people in the room, she walked out of the Basilicom and onto the hexagon rail. Stepping aboard, she was given more curious and worried looks as she rode the thing to her destination, the girl on her back sniffling occasionally, but otherwise staying completely silent. She stepped off of the platform and onto the stairs, before reaching the ground and heading off to her residence.

The trip was relatively boring. Neither of them said a word to eachother, and the shocked and confused looks practically everyone threw her way quickly stopped being funny and got to be more of an annoyance. It gradually became more bearable the closer she got to her house, due to the fewer people in the area and with dusk coming down quickly. She turned and saw her house, before she walked towards it. She opened the front door and stepped inside. Once inside, she came to a sudden halt and narrowed her eyes.

Above her was the sound of footsteps. Light footsteps, but footsteps nonetheless. Had someone broken in to her house?

Well, she did need something to vent on. A burglar would be great for that.

She unsheathed her sword and rested it over her shoulder, before silently walking up the stairs. The girl on her back seemed none the wiser, as she made no effort to say anything or do anything. She might have even passed out on her back.

She saw that her bedroom door was wide open, so she stepped inside and looked around. She was met with the sight of someone stuffing her console into a large bag.

She was having none of it.

She dove over to the person, causing them to turn to face her from the sudden noise. She delivered a swift punch to the persons face with her free hand, before the let out a feminine scream and landed on their backside, dazed.

The Good Hunter grabbed them by the head, before she dragged them over to the wall and held them up so that their feet weren't touching the ground. She drew back her sword, and stabbed right through their waist, which passed through their entire body and lodged itself into the wall.

The victim let out a bone chilling scream of agony as they gripped the blade and began to frantically kick their legs, as if they were trying to alleviate some of the insane pain surging through them. The Good Hunter drew a throwing knife, and was about to play darts with the thief, when...

A blinding light flashed behind her, causing her to suddenly shut her eyes.

It was only for a moment, but when she opened them she saw a delicate, yes strong hand grasping her right wrist, stopping her from throwing the knife. She turned to see the Goddess in her transformed state, with a scared, distraught face. She must have dismounted at some point, and The Good Hunter was far too occupied to notice.

"That's enough... Don't kill her. I wont let you." She said, somewhat surprising The Good Hunter. That's when she noticed something else in her eyes...

It was small. Something that you generally wouldn't notice unless you looked very closely, but was there nevertheless.

It was conflict. It was being practically drowned by everything else, but it was there.

Had the girl finally reached her breaking point?

The Good Hunter let out an amused huff, before begrudgingly stowing her throwing knife and gripping her sword, pulling it out of the wall and the girl, watching as she fell to the floor with a heavy thud. It looked like she was trying to reach for... something on her pouch, but couldnt reach it. The Goddess let out a relieved sigh, and walked over to the girl. She seemed to actually be tending to her.

'What a foolish girl. Her generosity will bite her in the ass later.' Thought The Good Hunter, who walked over to her console, before something hit her.

How would she move it?

She looked around the box, seeing the black cables that sprouted from the back of it, which seemingly led to the television. She moved over to it, and saw the cables end with thick bulky ends into the televison.

She attempted to pull on the things, and they did come out rather easily. She set them by the console, before grabbing everything and dropping it into her pouch. It was then that she looked over to the Goddess, who was helping the robber up.

'Strange... Where did their wound go?'

The stab wound was completely healed and gone, without a trace of it ever existing. The Good Hunter walked over to the thief, and put her blade up to her neck. The Goddess shouted in protest at this.

"Im not going to kill it..." She said. The Goddess looked unsure for a few seconds, but sighed in resignation, and backed off slightly. She still looked ready to pounce at any given moment, however.

"Now... Any reason you got it in your head that coming into my home would be a fine idea?" Questioned The Good Hunter, blade unwavering.

"...Sometimes, I like to come to this district to loot old houses. I had no idea that someone had started living here, honest."

The Good Hunter scowled under her helmet. She _really_ wanted to kill this person, but then again, a certain _person_ was stopping her. She looked the the Goddess, who frowned and shool her head no. The Good Hunter quietly growled, before sheathing her blade.

"Get the fuck out of here before I do it anyway." The Good Hunter snapped, gesturing to the door. The thief wasted no time in getting up and bolting for the door.

"...I cant allow this anymore, Neptune." The Goddess suddenly spoke, a mix of emotions lining her voice.

"Hm?" The Good Hunter turned to face the Goddess, who wore a determined and confident look.

'This is new...' The Good Hunter thought.

"I know that... where you came from wasn't the most forgiving or happy place. And im so, terribly sorry you had to go through the things you did. But you cant just go kill mode on a person like that! It's just something you cant do!" She said.

She wasn't really expecting her to ever raise her voice against her like that. Ever since she had met Nepgear, she was usually a sad, crying mess. Now?

'Guess she must have had it.'

"...Whatever. If it helps you sleep, I'll _try_ not to grind up the people that attack me or wrong me." Said The Good Hunter, a small dab of sarcasm leaking from her voice. The Goddess sighed, before light overtook the room again and she returned to her normal form.

The Good Hunter left the building, somewhat irked that the thief left the door wide open.

'Hopefully the next time I see that girl, I'll be alone.'

The Goddess was slightly behind, so she ran up to the side of The Good Hunter, who she stole glances at every once in a while.

"...You got taller." She commented, trying to start a conversation.

The Good Hunter "Hmph" 'd in response, which for some reason got a small giggle from the girl.

'Wasn't she just on my ass for almost killing a person?..."

The girls walked down the street, eventually reentering the more populated area of the city. Nepgear seemed to be having a mental war with herself, as she was constantly narrowing her eyes at nothing, shaking her head etc.

Eventually, she formulated a question.

"Uhm... Sis?"

The Good Hunter sighed in annoyance. She _really_ did not like to be called that, even if it was true. (Which she vehemently denied.) But if she didn't start responding to it, Kos knows how long she'll nag and call her it anyway. It would drive her to suicide more than a few times if she didn't bite the bullet on this one and suck it up.

"...What."

The Girl seemed actually surprised she got a response, but a smile quickly formed on her face.

"Can we hold hands back to the Basili-"

 **"No."**

She looked to the ground dejectedly, with an "Aw..."

 **Line Break**

After the pair returned to the Basilicom, they began to process of 'hooking up' the console to the large television in the living room. The Good Hunter had next to no knowledge of the technology, aside from knowing that cords had to be inserted into the television to work. So she opted to let the Goddess do it, while she retired to the kitchen, feeling hungry.

She threw open the cold metal cabinet, and was met with some sort of smoke to the face. Inside the box was a wide variety of what looked like fruits, vegetables and some meats. However, one thing caught her eye.

It was on the top shelf next to the milk. It was fairly small, and almost bowl shaped. It was creme at the base and a layer of brown crowned it. Taking it, she realised it was covered in a thin layer of paper, with the words 'Ge-Ge' on it.

Ge-Ge? Was that the name of the food?

Tearing it off, she removed the thing from its package. It was jiggly and soft, but also firm in some way. She removed her headgear, placing it on the table behind her. She tore a piece off of the main body, and placed it in her mouth.

It was the single best thing she had ever tasted.

She couldn't even describe it. It wad simply amazing.

The taste was so incredibly foreign, but so very familiar as well.

"Uhm... Neptune, I finished setting up your game-" The Good Hunter turned to face Nepgear, who had just entered the room. She had a surprised expression at first, but it then turned into a soft smile.

"...That was mine, you know." She said, slowly walking over. The Good Hunter then turned away and quickly shoved the entire thing in her mouth. If the Goddess dared to take this from her, she would kill something. She wouldn't lose somethint that tasted as good as this.

"Well, I guess you still have a strangely powerful love for pudding." She commented. "If you want to play your game, it's set up in the living room."

The Good Hunter gave light nod as she chewed, eventually swallowing.

'Pudding, is it? I'll have to see about buying more.' She thought as she left the room, entering the living room. She saw it was empty, and the people that were still at the Basilicom(Compa, IF, Noire, Nepgear and Histoire), were on the balcony.

She started up the console, and started Devil's Spirits. She checked the balcony again whilst the game loaded, and saw Histoire looking at her, then the game on the screen. She looked back between the two for a few moments, as if connecting the dots on something. Before she could see her do anything, The Good Hunter turned back to the screen, and selected 'Continue.'

'Today is the day you meet your end, Frostskulker.'

 **Deep Virtua Forest, Ten minutes later.**

A horrible, abhorrent monster was currently enjoying a meal consisting of a foolish human that thought it could best it. This world was... different. The humans here weren't the same as the normal ones. Their hides were not ones it had seen before. They were far more colorful and repulsive. Their weapons were also strange, but seemed to be only slightly less deadly than the ones the normal Humans usually held. Well, it didn't really matter. As long as it had food to eat, it was fine. And they tasted pretty much the same, despite the fact these ones were softer in some capacity.

That was when it heard a roar. It sounded primal and rage filled, but also from incredibly far away.

 ** _"GOD FUCKING DAMN YOOOUUU!!!"_**

Whatever made that sound, it very obviously wasn't happy. It was amusing to the monster as it continued to eat.

Other creatures suffering was pretty funny.


	8. A Bloodied Goddess 8

**Well, you guys have been asking for darker, bloodier scenes.** **Warning. This chapter will be much darker and much more bloody, along with some gore. It will be much heavier than the previous ones. I will make a warning for when that section occurs.** **Thanks for 100 follows everyone.**

The Good Hunter slowly opened her eyes. She had fallen asleep? When? And why was it on the floor? She sat up and quickly rubbed it out of her eyes, surveying her surroundings. She looked in front of her, and on the floor was her Holy Moonlight Sword. On the blade was a note. Picking it up, it read:

 _"From now on, whenever you are playing Devils Spirits, you will be supervised._

 _-Nepgear._

 _P.S: Love you, Sis._

She scoffed at the note. Mostly due to the last sentence, but she tossed it aside. She picked up her weapon, before sheathing it and standing, looking to the television.

She was still in front of the television. Her Devil's Spirits character standing in front of the Gentleman in White. Odd, he reminded The Good Hunter of The Doll.

She looked around the room. To say it was different than when she had last seen it would be an understatement.

The room was completely thrashed. Bookshelves were toppled over, paintings and photographs where on the ground face-down, and the couch was covered with various items including, but not limited to, Sedatives, her pair of Executioners gloves and her Tiny Tonitrus. She swiftly moved to gather the items, stuffing them into her pouch. It was then that, on the other end of the couch, she heard snoring. Looking over to where she had heard it, she noticed Neapgear lying face down on the couch snoring, and Compa lying next to her, an empty syringe near her hand. Had they sedated her? Why would they need to do that?

That's when she remembered.

 **Flashback. The night before.**

 **" _GOD FUCKING DAMN YOOOOUUUU!"_** Screamed The Good Hunter in pure, unadulterated, rage. She had gotten this close, _this close_ to beating the Frostskulker. Until she rolled one too many times, and the bastard got a lucky throw with an ice mass. She ignored the alarmed screams, and responded in a completely rational way.

First, she hurled the controller into the ground, which DIDN'T break it. (She had to commend the craftsmanship.)

She then unsheathed her Holy Moonlight Sword, and cut a massive gash in the wall, tearing the wallpaper and cutting into some of the metal behind it. She put two more, smaller gashes in before she felt herself being tackled by someone. She turned her head to see none other than Noire in her transformed state, attempting to wrestle her to the ground with Nepgear, also in her transformed state and IF not far behind. Compa seemed to be desperately rifling through a large bag with a red plus on it, being helped by Histoire.

Well, this Goddess was strong. But The Good Hunter pissed off?

She was stronger.

She almost instantly delivered a shattering slam of her fist to the Goddess ' jaw, which caused her to yelp in pain and shock, before recoiling. This allowed The Good Hunter to poot her boot to the girls stomach, kicking her off and making for her weapon, which she was promptly denied in the form of IF picking it up and, rather comically, immediately falling on her ass due to the unexpected weight. Before she could capitalize on this however, Nepgear interrupted her in the form of pinning her to the wall. She then began to shout at her.

"Snap out of it sis! I know that game is frustrating, but it's just a game!"

Just a game?!

JUST A **_GAME?!_**

She responded to this by delivering a violent headbutt to the girl, recieving a sudden shout in shock, before she released her and stumbled back. She lunged for IF, who deftly dodged out of the way, causing The Good Hunter to slam into the couch. She quickly found herself restrained by all three of them.

That was when she began to violently shake herself in vain attempt to free herself, shaking various things free of her pouch. Throwing knives, Elixers, Blood vials the works. She felt a needle enter her arm then, followed by a slight stinging. And in one final, primal show of raw strenght, she put all of her remaining energy, which she felt quickly draining, into a push that freed herself from the grasp of the three. However, she almost instantly found that her legs were unable to support her, and she fell to the ground with a heavy thud. Her eyelids fely very heavy, and she soon lost conciousness.

 **Flashback end.**

She shook her head, and dug into her pouch, bringing out her notebook. She brought out some charcoal she had found. and scribbled a note, Which she then tore out and tossed to the floor in front of the couch for the two to find when they woke. She left the room and made her way to the elevator, which she would have entered had she not noticed a door she hadn't noticed before. In fact, she wouldn't have noticed it if the door wasn't slightly ajar. She stepped away from the elevator and thrust the concealed doot open, only to be met with quite a sight.

The room seemed to be, in one way or another, endless. It was blue, purple, all manner of cold colors. And they seemed to be almost alive, as lines of the color circulated throughout the room. But it was what was at the center of the room that got her attention.

It was a crystal that produced a bright glow, and seemed to be the source of the color. The crystal itself was large and had an overall very even shape. Approaching it, she observed it from different angles, discovering it looked the same at all angles. She extended her hand to touch it.

When her hand made contact with the hovering crystal, her body briefly and lightly glowed, before quickly dissapearing just as quickly as it had came. She didn't know what had happened, but she most definitely felt more awake.

'What a peculiar thing. I will ask about it when the others decide to wake, I suppose.'

With that, The Good Hunter turned on her heel and made her way out of the room. Turning to the elevator, she stepped inside and selected the ground floor. She felt the thing lurch, and begin its movements. Before long, the doors opened again and released her. Stepping out, she ignored the looks some of the people in the room gave her, which from what she could tell, mostly came from those passing through. The attendants seemed to have become accustomed to her presence as they did not spare her a second glance, which suited the Hunter just fine. She exited the Basilicom, heading straight for the hexagon rail as per usual, which already had occupants. Stepping on, she went over the mental list she had made the night before. Well, before her 'incident.'

 _Step one: Procure a sort of breakfast._

 _Step two: Make way to the guild building. I need to kill something._

 _Step three: Locate what needs to be killed._

 _Step four: Kill it._

 _Step five: Return to Guild and receive compensation._

It was rather simple, but it provided her with a goal for the day. Stepping off the rail, she headed into the streets of Planeptune, before heading off to the bakery she ate at. She recieved a few wary glances along the way, but nothing more than that. Eventually, she found herself entering the bakery, where she was greeted by the attendant. She ordered a blueberry muffin, payed with her guild card and moved to sit. She then realized that she couldn't eat through her helmet. And if she wanted to maintain secrecy, she would have to find a more secluded space to eat. She stood, and began searching. It didn't take very long for her to find a place to hide, in the form of one of the numerous alleyways inside the city. Ducking inside, she rushed deeper and eventually found herself deep in the network of alleys, where not a soul resided. She was just about to remove her helmet and enjoy her meal, when she heard something...

 **It's gonna get dark and messed up from here, just a heads up. It's also something of a sensitive topic. If you dont like that kind of thing, then watch for a bold ABCDE that will signify it's end. 18plus shit ahead.**

It was faint, but it was there.

Even with her amazing hearing, it was hard to make out. But it sounded like muffled sobbing, and some kind of wet slapping... She didn't know what could cause such a sound, but that didn't concern her. Nor did the sobbing if she was completely honest, but how could she eat if she could hear that sound? Besides, inspecting it would prove to be more interesting than moving away from it. She stashed her muffin and moved towards the sound. Over time it barely got any louder, despite her gut telling her she was closing in. She turned a corner, and was met with an unexpected sight.

There was a man and a woman. The woman was stark naked and bruised, and had brown hair and absolutely mortified eyes. The man was big and muscular, and was wearing a shirt and pants, which were at his feet. The two...

Well lets just say they were performing intercourse, as it's called.

A natural thing for people. The need to reproduce is nature for any animal. But this... Seemed so wrong, for some reason. Why did it make her so mad to look at this?

Why?

Why did she feel the sudden overpowering _urge_ to see that man bleed out on the floor?

A part of herself was telling her to not get involved in something like this. But the other, more overpowering part of herself was telling her to take action.

The Good Hunter began to see red.

She snarled underneath her helmet.

Before she knew it, her body began to move on its own.

She charged in pure fury towards the man, ramming headlong into his side, knocking him to the ground. He shouted in surprise, and seemed to be scrambling for a knife to the side, but before he could, she unsheathed her massive blade.

And brought it directly down on his genitals with such force and precision, it got split right down the middle.

The man screamed in agony, but she did not care. She grabbed him by the neck, tossing her blade to the side. She slammed him into the wall, creating an audible crack as blood dripped from his lower area. She quickly let go and grasped his right arm with her left, and took a throwing knife from her pouch with her right. She put his wrist against the wall, and slammed the knife through his wrist and into the wall, pinning it there.

The screams music to her ears, she did the same with the other wrist, and pinned both of his feet together. He was now pinned to the wall in a cross. She looked to the alley, and found an old, disgusting rag. Picking it up, she stuffed it in his mouth and shoved it deep to prevent screams, but not breathing. He began to gag on the cloth, but she did not care. She moved to take up her weapon, glancing at the terrified, naked woman who was huddled in a corner, horrified eyes staring at her, unblinking. It only made her rage grow. She turned back to the man, and grasped the hilt witth both hands.

She brought her blade to bear, and slashed into his stomach. Not deep enough to kill, but deep enough for the ever so satisfying sound of his intestines to slick out of his body and hang from him, his muffled screams turning into sobs and choking sounds. She wouldn't give this...Bastard the mercy of a quick death. She would leave him there to die. Turning to the woman, she found her still there, still naked. Still scared.

She sighed, before digging through her pouch, bringing out her foreign clothes, minus the hood. She wasn't too sure what possessed her to do this, in amy other situation, she likely would have left the person to her fate. Was she feeling... Pity?

She threw the garments on the woman.

"Make yourself decent." She said, turning away both out of respect, and to watch the man currently bleeding out on the wall in satisfaction. She had never quite done that to someone before, but something in her told her that this man deserved everything that came his way. Something was telling her to cut him up some more, but she figured he would die quicker that way.

 **ABCDE. I hope that wasn't too harsh for those that read it. First time writing something like that.**

She was brought back by some sniffling behind her. She looked back to see the woman garbed in the foreign robe. It looked a touch small, but it was better than nothing. She was now standing and supporting herself on a rail. The Good Hunter, seeing that the woman seemed to be well and the man dealt with, was just about to turn and leave. However, she was stopped by the woman, who lunged over and hugged her. Sobbing into her chest, heaving out things like "Thank you." and "Im scared."

She sighed. Wasn't she going through something just like this yesterday? That's when she got to thinking.

If she left this woman here, what was to stop this from happening again? She did not look at all capable of fighting. And in her current state, she would likely look like a juicy meal for anyone who just so happened to come across her, unless of course her little job deterred them.

She sighed. "Let go. You're making an embarrassment of yourself." She said sternly. The girl seemed incredibly shocked, as she tensed and shakily released her. The Good Hunter reached i to her pouch, and retrieved the still warm muffin. She gave it to the girl, who seemed confused.

"Take it. I imagine after all that you must be hungry." She said blandly. The woman seemed hurt if her facial expressions were anything to go off of, but she accepted it anyway and scarfed it down. The Good Hunter raised an eyebrow at how quickly she ate.

"Do you live around here?" She asked. With any luck, she would be able to get the girl home without any trouble.

"N-No..." The girl meekly replied. Her voice was shaky.

"Where do you live, then?"

"I... I don't have a home."

The Good Hunter would be lying if she said she was surpised. Barely anyone finds themselves this far into the alley network without a reason. She sighed. She couldn't just leave her here now, could she?

She supposed she could take her to the Basilicom. There was more than enough room for her there. Although the others may object... Bah, what did she care. This woman needed help.

"Get steady. Follow me." The Good Hunter said, curtly turning and walking away. It didn't take long for her to hear footsteps behind her. The pair then proceeded to make their way out of the alleys.

 **Line Break.**

The pair didn't speak much on their trip to the Basilicom. What was there to say? The atmosphere was dark, and there was a sour smell on the air.

"I just want to... to thank you again." Said the girl. The Good Hunter simply nodded at the fifth time she had thanked her. She couldn't really blame the girl to be fair, however. It was obvious the event had traumatized her. The Good Hunter sighed, and the rest of the walk was silent. That is, until they reached the platform that took them to the Basilicom.

"Y-You're with the Basilicom? Why are you taking me here?" She asked, her surprise evident in her voice.

"You need a place to stay. Unless you'd prefer to rest in a dirt alleyway?" The Good Hunter questioned. Needless to say, that shut her up.

"...It's Maria."

The Good Hunter nearly tripped on herself when she heard that name.

"What?"

"My name is Maria." Said the girl

Maria... To think she heard that name nkt even a short while ago. Despite what happened, The Good Hunter still had immense respect for the Hunter and her achievements.

"Maria, hm..."

"Y-Yes." She replied meekly as they stepped off the hexagon rail.

"I see... Maria, do you know how to defend yourself?" Asked The Good Hunter.

"Uhm... Well, no." She replied, earning a sigh from The Good Hunter. Despite the fact that she had been expecting that response, it did not make her plan for this girl any easier. She stepped into the elevator, Maria close behind her. The poor girls eyes nearly popped out of her head when she saw the floor she had selected.

"W-w-why are we going to the Goddess' floor?!" She squeaked, fear in her voice.

"Why do you think." Was the reply. Maria did not respond to that, apparently she didn't take stern voices all too well. The door opened, and the pair stepped out. Almost immediately there were voices, three to be exact. And she could pinpoint their owners from here. From what sue heard, it sounded like Nepgear, Compa and Histoire were in a tizzy whilst trying to locate her. That was until she stepped into the room with her charge. Nepgear, upon seeing the girl, immediately power walked over to her.

"Neptune! Where have you been! Never do that again, you had us worried sick! And your note did not help with that, since the only words on it were 'Gone Hunting!' I oug-" Nepgear suddenly halted, apparently only just seeing Maria, barely inside the room

"Neptune, who is this person?" Histoire asked. Nepgear and Compa nodded at her words, probably attempting to say that they also wished to know.

"Maria. Found her deep in the alleys." Was her response.

"The alleys? Why would anyone go down there?" Was the reply from Compa.

"I believe she was forced. I found her in a compromised position." Neptune responded, signaling for the girl to enter the room fully, which she did.

"Compromised position? What do you mea-" Nepgear cur herself off and her eyes suddenly grew as wide as plates. "No... Don't tell me."

"I dont know what you are thinking, but I found her having indecent activities with a man. She was scared, crying. I acted." She looked back to Maria, who seemed to be stifling a sob.

Her body seemed to just act on autopilot then, as she delivered a headpat.

Neptune had to take a moment to process what she just did, removing her hand from the girls head and looking at it as if it were a foreign entity. But that wasn't what concerned the other three the most at the moment, as they quickly came to her and set her on the couch, comforting her and asking questions. She did not know if that was correct procedure for dealing with something like that, but they could probably do it better than her. She removed her helmet, before setting it on a table next to the couch before moving to a chair and readying herself to clean and repair her weapons. Bringing out a cloth to scrape off as much dried blood as she could.

"The man that did this to you... What happened to him? Where did he go?" Nepgear asked.

"...He didn't go anywhere. He's still there, bolted to the wall with his intestines hanging outside of his stomach, and that miserable, disgusting thing cut in half." Stated Maria, recalling the events of earlier. There was silence after that, and The Good Hunter felt eyes on her. Looking up, she saw that the three were staring at her, various expressions on their faces.

Compa had a face that was white as a ghost, and an expression of fear and sadness, as if she was questioning how someone that used to be her best friend could do something so revolting to anyone, even if that person did what they did.

Nepgear looked flat out disgusted and even a little pissed. She probably should have expected that from the girl, she seemed to have caught on to her methods rather quickly and did not condone them. Odds were she would attempt to sway her again later.

Histoire looked to be in sheer disbelief, questioning how anyone could possibly do that to a person.

They were all soft. And that got on her nerves fairly easily. But then, The Good Hunter did something that nobody would have expected.

She suddenly smiled. An eerie, disturbing smile that spoke of madness, even though it was clear the girl was quite sane.

Her next line chilled everybody in the room.

"He was one of my finer pieces."

 **This was my first time ever writing something as graphic as that, I hope I didn't butcher it horribly or end up triggering you. Thank you all for reading.**


	9. A Bloodied Goddess 9

**Two days after the events of the last chapter.**

The Good Hunter delivered a solid kick to Maria's stomach, causing her to stagger and let out a loud groan of pain, before she dropped her weapons and fell to the ground, clutching her stomach. The Good Hunter walked over to her and kicked her on her back, before stomping on her chest, pinning her to the ground.

"If you falter under an attack as weak as a simple kick, I will not waste my time with you." She said coldly, before roughly grabbing her right shoulder and pulling her to her feet. She stumbled for a few seconds, before she regained her balance and looked at The Good Hunter with a bruised, cut face.

Her facial features were just like hers.

That was one of the reasons that The Good Hunter offered to train her this morning. It was now eight in the evening, and the girl, while she did show signs of slight improvement, would have been laughed at by her older self.

Yes, this girl was most definitely that Maria. The events of earlier confirmed that for her.

 **Flashback**.

The Good Hunter returned to the Basilicom after completing a few quests for the guild. While they were steadily increasing in difficulty, they were still no match for her. She received a light wave from one of the receptionists, which she completely ignored as she pressed the button to the elevator, calling it down. To her slight surprise, she was met with the face of that Maria girl inside the elevator, who flashed her a smile as she saw The Good Hunter. The Good Hunter paid her little more than a small nod, and was about to pass her until she realized something.

She saw her eyes.

Those eyes...

Nobody could forget those eyes after they had seen them.

"A corpse... Should be left well alone."That line reverberated through her mind and chilled her.

She had initially thought the name was just a coincidence. But after that, she was not entirely sure.

Well, she had one way of figuring out.

"Maria. Look at me now." She said, a commanding edge to her words.

"W-Wh- Okay!" She said, looking at her without moving. Apparently, even the light commanding tones got under her skin. Not good.

"I need you to look at this, and tell me if you recognize it." She stated, before reaching into her pouch and pulling out the one item Maria would be certain to recognize.

Her Rakuyo.

She held it out to her, and she seemed to be someone shocked at her handing her the weapon. She recovered rather quickly however, and slowly gripped the weapon, inspecting it. Almost instantly her hand shook slightly, followed by her raising a hand to her head.

"Ow... I just got a headache for some reason..." That certainly got The Good Hunter's attention. While she wasn't certain of anything just yet, she had a hard time believing that the headache was just a coincidence.

That was when Maria did something incredible.

She seamlessly transformed the weapon into it's dual state with insane fluidity and practiced precision, as if she had been doing it all her life. While Maria looked at the thing bewildered, The Good Hunter had all the proof she needed.

"Tomorrow, meet me at the entrance to Virtua Forest." She said as more of an order than a request.

"Y-Yes!" She squeaked, before The Good Hunter curtly turned to the elevator and selected her floor.

"Wait! Your wea-" Maria was cut off by the door slamming shut.

 **End Flashback.**

"...Alright Miss Neptune. I'll try harder." She stated, a burning fire in her eyes. At least her determination was something she could appreciate. This girl did not give up easy, for every time you knocked her down she would get back up with an ever burning fervor.

It's a shame she barely knew how to properly chain her attacks.

However, this wasn't the only thing on her mind.

The other thing was properly making Maria a Hunter. She could train her to effectively swing a blade, but efficiency against Beasts only rose when you fought them. So once she was sure the girl could hold her own, she would go in search of an actual beast for her to kill. Not some Fenrir, despite them being somewhat fun. However, she was still a ways away from achieving such status. This was only the second day of training, after all.

The Good Hunter smootly sidestepped a stab, to which Maria followed with a wode swing to attempt to catch her in her dodge, To which The Good Hunter responded with a deflection off of the side of her own greatsword. She brought the handle up and clipped her in the jaw, eliciting a cry of shock from the girl, before she quickly removed the dagger from the hilt and threw it her way, managing to jusy nick The Good Hunter on her right hip as she attempted to dodge.

'Perhaps she is progressing more than I had thought.' Pondered The Good Hunter, before dodged backwards to evade an advancing slash. The Good Hunter almost immediately retaliated by surging forward, slamming the guard of the sword right into her stomach, causing the air to suddenly and roughly exit her, causing her to double over. The Good Hunter, without any pause, then kicked her on her back and held the sword with both hands, the point centimeters from her neck.

After a few seconds, The Good Hunter removed the blade from her neck and allowed her to rise, the girl massaging her jaw in pain.

"It pleases me to see you are paying attention to the training sessions. You are indeed improving at a somewhat more rapid pace than what I had anticipated." The Good Hunter admitted, staring off at the distant Basilicom of Planeptune.

They had indeed met at Virtua Forest, but she had brought her further east to avoid any possible distractions, leading them into a colder area with snow covering the lands. It reminded her somewhat of Cainhurst, except it lacked a regal castle. She doubted the Goddess would find her here, as she left her Guild Card on a table in her Basilicom. The Goddess herself seemed somewhat more reserved and thoughtful these past two days. Perhaps what she had said had gotten to her? Meh. Not her problem.

Well, she figured that Maria at her current level could handle some Dogoos or a few slightly more powerful beings.

"Maria, come. We are going hunting." Said The Good Hunter, slinging her blade over her shoulder. She ignored the girls unintelligible stammering and began to walk away, quickly joined by the sound of her footsteps. Whether they would find anything good for Maria to test her skills on, completey unknown.

 **Lowee Basilicom, same time.**

Blanc was not known for being the most benevolent or calm person. In fact, saying she was volatile at times would be a rather large understatement. She was like a ticking time bomb strapped to 50 atom bombs, just waiting to go off at any time for any reason.

So when she heard that Neptune had left the Basilicom with Maria, and her current whereabouts are unknown as she left her Guild Card behind, the Goddess was reasonable worried and angry.

Worroed because such an unstable and violent person was freely wandering Gameindustri (The irony of that did not click with her.), and angry because it seemed that she would pull this shit every other day.

Planeptune had already turned itself inside out looking for her, and had come up empty handed. Leanbox was out of the question because the travel time from Planeptune to Leanbox exceeded the time she had likely been gone, unless she flew of course. And considering she is an ex-Goddess, the idea isn't all that far fetched. However, she made no display of such power, and did not seem to be capable of activating HDD either way. So as of now, the two were likely somewhere in Loweean or Lastation territory, or somewhere in the outskirts.

She could have been anywhere, and with only that jittery, shaken girl there with her? She couldn't wrap her head around why she had taken her. Kidnapping was very unlikely, due to the fact that she was saved by Neptune if Nepgear's report did not lie. Regardless, she had pretty much free reign of her surroundings. And that thought did not put her at ease. Despite having trouble combating the Goddesses, she showed little to no difficulty in taking on normal Humans or high rank Monsters, which she proved when Nepgear recorded her taking on a pack of several Fenrirs and only recieving superficial wounds. She was truly a force to be reckoned with. So as of now, locating her was a top priority, alongside getting Rom and Ram to **_SHUT UP FOR A FEW MINUTES!_**

She sighed heavily as the loud pair rumbled throughout the Basilicom, Mina on their trail. She was their sister, and she loved them with all her heart, but goddamn if they weren't annoying as hell sometimes.

"Blanc, you okay? You look a bit fatigued." Asked Noire, who was on the other side of the video call. They had contacted eachother to discuss the current situation, only to discover that neither had found anything, much to their chagrin. Instead they began to discuss tactics for when they did locate Neptune, which mostly consisted of:

Plan A: Try to talk her down. This likely wouldn't work, but it was worth a shot.

Plan B: Try to apprehend her. This would be quite difficult given her innate combat capabilities and skills, alongside her immensely powerful weapons. That was why Blanc chose to send only her best soldiers, and posted an S rank quest for Adventures to search for her. Vert had even been so kind as to send two members of the Leanbox Special Mission Department. Cave, who was currently searching the forests surrounding Lowee. The other operative was sent to Lastation with the same goal in mind. However, all efforts thus far proved to be fruitless. Since when was Neptune so goddamn elusive? You used to be able to find her real damn easily, since anyone could hear her from about two miles off. Now? You were lucky if you heard her when you were both in the same room. The change was absolutely ludicrous.

"Yes... Im fine. Just the whole situation has me somewhat overwhelmed." She responded, the sound of Rom and Ram laughing loudly resonating throughout the building.

"Believe me, it has us all overwhelmed. I've had Law Enforcement and the Military scour the city, while Adventurers and that SMD Operative scour the other areas of Lastation. But so far, not a trace of the girl. Nepgear said she had that Maria person with her as well, for what reason though is far beyond me." Noire admitted, reaching for the ornate teacup on her table.

"Yes, im aware. I wouldn't imagine it was a kidnapping, after all, even if Neptune is what she is now, she definitely still has some sort of moral compass." She said, her face darkening and right eye getting slightly red as the noise grew on her nerves more and more.

"Of that I have no doubt. Still, despite her current... attitude, I can't helo but feel somewhat sad for her. Neptune has been through some, and please excuse my language, bad shit. And she has always bounced back with that same bubbly attitude. But now... I guess even Neptune had a breaking point." She said somberly.

"Yes, I suppose your right. Although im fairly certain that all but the most hardened individuals would break under the circumstances she explained. Although I can't help but feel she purposefully left a lot of things out. Why, I cant imagine." Blanc finished, before she heard the laughing again.

"...Excuse me for a moment." Blanc said, standing. Her right eye a circle of pure red, and her teeth literal triangles as she busted open the door to her room.

" ** _ALRIGHT, YOU BRATS! WHAT DID I SAY ABOUT BEING QUIET WHILE IM WORKING?!? AND IT IS WAY PAST YOUR BEDTIME!"_**

 **Line Break.**

The Good Hunter watched contently as Maria dodged another lunge from the gigantic Dogoo. She currently had very few injuries, if any. The only noticeable thing was that she was covered in blue goo, which seemed to be hindering her movement. The Dogoo however, was much worse off. It had multiple cuts, slashes and lacerations covering its body, and its tail was severed. The once happy expression was now a droopy frown, and it looked as if it was ready to topple over any second now.

Well, her prediction was right on. Maria avoided a large splash of goo, before she darted in and slammed the entirety of her blade into the face of the Dogoo. It let out a slow, pained moan before it's face went completely slackslack, and it exploded in a rain of crystal hexagons.

Maria, breathing heavily, began to lightly cheer to herself.

"I did it! I did it!" She quietly repeated, whilst jumping around happily. It was, quite honestly a rather idiotic display. She found herself grasping the girls shoulder.

"Yes, indeed you did. Now quit making an embarrassment of yourself before I have t-"

"Hold it right there!"

The pair immediately turned to face the voice, and was met with the visage of a red haired girl and two helmeted figures flanking her. The two armored figures behind her held guns, and looked to be Military. The one at the head had twintails on each side of her vibrant red hair, and she was wearing what seemed to be a mix of a Nurse's and Maid's outfit. Far too revealing for her tastes, either way.

If she had to guess, the Goddesses didn't take too kindly to her little excursion. This peraon was likely part of some sort of search party.

The redhead then stepped forward. "On the orders of the four Goddesses, you are to immediately return to the Planeptune Basilicom. If you do not willingly go, we will forcefully move you." Said the girl in a monotone, even voice.

"...No. We will return to the Basilicom when we please." Responded The Good Hunter. The redhead then narrowed her eyes.

"Im afraid I cannot allow that. Please, do not re-"

Her line was cut off by an all too familiar ear-splitting roar.

The roar was followed up by the sound of tree's rapidly snapping and cracking to her right. Looking to it, she saw a gigantic, flaming dog.

The Watchdog of the old lords. And it was barreling straight at them.

The Good Hunter and the Redhead were quick to react, both dodging out of the way. The Good Hunter made sure to grab the neck of Maria and pull her along with her, while the Redhead attempted to pull back both of the troopers, but could only reach one in time before she had to pull back to safety.

The one left behind didn't have time to scream, as he was immediately snatched up in the mouth of the thing, before being melted into slag in it's mouth.

Maria couldn't even move at this time, which The Good Hunter remedied by delivering a hard slap to the back of her head. This seemingly brought her back to reality, and she watched the other two attempt to fight the Watchdog before turning to The Good Hunter.

"W-We cant fight that thing! We have to run!"

Run?

The Good Hunter laughed out loud as she channeled arcane energy into her sword, and moved to assist the struggling combatants.

"When you become a Hunter, you are forced to hunt Beasts. You will hunt your own beasts again soon enough, Maria." Stated The Good Hunter, before charging into the battle.

It was not currently in the favor of the Humans. The Redhead was doing alright, with only minor burns on her body and was actually inflicting slight damage to the thing with her scissors. The soldier however, was in a bad way. One of his legs had been chewed off and eaten, along with half of his body charred. He seemed to be drinking bottles of strange liquid which did mend his wounds, despite the mends being rather small. It was commendable that he was still shooting from his resting position, however.

The Good Hunter took advantage of the Redhead distracting the Watchdog, and charged up moonlight energy. She reared back her blade, and when she came within range, rammed the blade right into the body of the beast before letting the charged moonlight energy explode inside, causing visible damage as a sizable hole was now blown out of the thing's torso.

However, Beasts of this caliber did not fall so easily, and The Good Hunter soon found itself on the recieving end of searing hot claws impaling her through her abdomen, before quickly being tossed away like a ragdoll into a tree.

She thought she heard Maria scream something, but she couldn't care to listen. She then stood up as if she was completely uninjured, before rushing to the battlefield again. The Redhead was currently mounting the beast, her giant scissors cutting deep inside it's frontal right thigh as she held on. It did not take long for it to shake her loose, however, As the Beast's constant jumping and shaking had opened the wound more and loosened the blade, causing it to fall out and take the girl with her. Seeing a window of opportunity, Neptune began to fire her gatling gun at the open wound, which began to tear it up and elicit a scream of pain from the thing. Approaching, she toom her greatsword in both hands and sliced right through the thigh, severing the leg. The dog fell to the ground with a scream of agony, but it did not go down just yet. As soon as it hit the ground, It brought it's other claw slamming down on top of her, locking her to the ground, and knocking her sword loose from her hand. Neptune could see the absolute mass of liquid fire in it's mouth, about to shoot out at her.

'I've had more painful deaths...' She thought.

However, that death would never come.

"NOOOOOOO!" Came a desperate yell from her right. Looking in that direction, she was met with the spectacle of Maria lunging forward at the beast, Rakuya primed to stab. The Watchdog took a moment to inspect the noise, which would prove to be it's fatal mistake.

Maria slammed the blade of her Rakuyo right into it's head, and got sprayed with Beast blood for her first time since... Since then.

The Beast cried in pain, but she wasn't done. She swiftly pulled the blade out, and slammed it down on the neck, creating a large gash.

She did it again, a larger gash.

Again, she was halfway through the neck.

Before long, she had sliced the entire head of the beast off. Unfortunately, it ended up falling right on top of The Good Hunter, forcing a surprised "Hrgh!" from her as the air is forced out of her.

Maria, shortly after getting over the fact that sue did indeed just do that, made to push the head and leg of the Watchdog off of The Goor Hunter.

Grabbing the body of the Beast, she hoisted herself to her feet, and quickly stuffed her hand into her pouch, pulling out a blood vial. After her wounds had sealed, she moved to see Maria staring at the now decapitated Watchdog with the most awe-striken look on her face.

"I... I-I Did-" Maria stuttered.

"Yes, you did. You killed your first Beast." Stated The Good Hunter, although she did mumble something under her breath after saying that.

Maria, still staring at the Beast, began to rub her head.

"Ow... I think we've done enough training today." She said, looking to The Good Hunter with hopeful eyes.

The Good Hunter sighed. They had been doing this for some time, and they DID just kill one of the most powerful Chalice Beasts. Besides, she wanted to stay within the Goddesses good graces, as such a thing could be beneficial. Hell, that was the main reason she hadn't packed her things and left yet with a middle finger facing the Basilicom. There was another reason as well, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it...

"Very well. Let us return to the Basilicom." The Good Hunter began to walk away, but she stopped mid stride.

She had no idea where they were.

"...Maria, do you know where we are?" Asked The Good Hunter.

"Uhm, no. A phone should have a map though." She answered, generating an annoyer sigh from The Good Hunter. She really needed to buy one of those things...

Well, she would just have to walk around and hope she found-

Her train of thought came to a screeching halt when her eyes landing on the Redhead and the injured soldier. The soldier seemed to be either unconscious due to the pain, and the Redhead seemed to be administering some sort of first aid.

That was when she noticed a certain something in the girl's pocket.

A phone.

Walking up to the distracted girl, she brought her had up into a knifehand, before delivering a solid, painful chop to the girl's neck. It didn't take her long to fall forward, completely blacked out. Taking the phone, she then realized she had no idea how it worked.

'Why must the technology here be so complex..'

 **Three minutes of fiddling later...**

After unintentionally opening the settings, accidentaly uninstalling something called 'Dunglemaps', and viewing some... Interesting photos, she finally managed to locate a Map. As of right now, the map stated that they were in Loweean territory.

'Must be another Goddesses land. Probably Blanc's, because im not remembering any of the other Goddesses ruling over a place called Lowee.' She thought.

As luck would have it, they were only three miles out from the city. She imagined that instead of taking the long ass walk to Planeptune, she could simply head to the Lowee Basilicom instead, and go from there. Besides, that Blanc girl seemed really easy to set off. Should prove to be entertaining.

She turned to Maria, who was still frenzied over the events of the past eight minutes. Not to mention she looked like she had just come back from the dead for the first time.

"Maria. We will instead be heading to the Basilicom of Lowee. It is closer, and I can see you are very fatigued." She stated, Earning a nod from Maria, who somewhat reluctantly left the other two behind, muttering a "Sorry." As she walked away from them.

Looking to her map again, they would roughly need to travel Northeast in order to reach the Basilicom. Exchanging no words, the pair left the remaining two to their fate, as they made their way to the Basilicom.


	10. A Bloodied Goddess 10

**I would just like to thank everyone for their reviews. I read every single one of them, and each bring a smile to my face. I would like to personally thank a certain Guest that wrote an essay-long review on my story. It was such a nice feeling to know how much you all liked my story, and want me to continue it.**

 **City of Lowee**

Neptune and Maria casually strode across the streets of Lowee, making their way to the Basilicom. In comparison to Planeptune, Lowee was much less futuristic in terms of design. The buildings were much more varied when it came to color and design, and it looked very childlike. It was almost nauseating to look at. Maria on the other hand, looked like she couldnt be happier. She smiled widly as she looked at her surroundings, apparently taking a liking to the designs and colors. She truly was the opposite of The Good Hunter.

The Basilicom was not hard to spot, and was much easier to get to due to it actually being connected to the rest of the city via land instead of some unnecessary holorail. As they walked the uphill trail to the Basilicom, Neptune began to notice that the city was quieter than Planeptune. And by quite a large margin.

'Perhaps this city can actually keep it's citizens quiet for a few minutes.' Thought Neptune as she and Maria entered the Basilicom.

 **Loweean Basilicom.**

The first thing that happened when Neptune entered the Basilicom, was the sound of children laughing and assaulting her eardrums. It echoed throughout the castle-like structure, and was quite unpleasant to listen to. Neptune began to walk further in, noticing that there was only one person at the very long table. She approached the girl working behind the table, who did not notice her until she cleared her throat a few feet from her. The girl then turned to face Neptune, who seemed to be rather intimidated. Probably due to the massive blade slung over her shoulder.

"Yes? M-May I help you?" She asked meekly.

"Where is the Goddess?" Replied Neptune in her usual, uninterested voice.

"In her chambers. I c-can schedule a meeting with her if you would like me to."

"Hm. Where are her chambers?"

"Just follow the signs..." The girl quietly stated, pointing to a sign bolted to the wall. There were many words on it, likely the names of rooms, but the one that caught her eye was, indeed, "Chamber of Lady White Heart".

Wordlessly, The Good Hunter turned and began to follow the signs, Maria on her heels. She ignored the meek protests of the girl, and kept her stride up. The Basilicom proved to be a rather sprawling complex, containing many hallways and side rooms. However, the path to the Goddesses chamber was fairly straightforward. Upon approaching the door, The Good Hunter could hear faint chattering beyond it. It sounded like four voices. Four very familiar voices.

The Good Hunter frowned. 'Have they already arrived here? Bah, I suppose it doesn't matter anymore.'

Stepping back, she reared her body back, before slamming her foot into the center of the large double doors with the entire weight and force of her body, causing them to fly open and slam against the walls they hit. Scanning the room, The Good Hunter quickly became confused.

Blanc was there alright, and was staring at her with a shocked expression, but the other goddesses were nowhere in sight. In fact, the only things in the room were a large bed, multiple bookshelves and a small table in the center of the room, which had a rectangular screen and a strange block on the floor connected to it.

What was on the screen, she could see from where she stood. And it confused her to no end.

On the screen were the faces of the other three Goddesses, all wearing similar expressions. She began to walk over to Blanc, Maria in tow. The voice she recognized as Vert then spoke through the screen.

"Well, it would appear we do not need to search for her anymore." She said with an exasperated tone.

"I would like all of you to know that if you hadn't sent your bloodhounds after me the second I left, I would have contentedly returned to the Basilicom. I suppose I am simply not allowed to go and train with my protege, then?"

It was then Noire that spoke up. "Protege? What do you me-" It was then that the Goddesses seemed to notice the presence of Maria, garbed in standard Hunter gear aside from the tricorn hat, Rakuyo and Hunter's Pistol hanging from her waist.

"Uhm... Hello, my Goddesses." She said politely, offering a bow.

"Neptune, you can't be serious!" Shouted Nepgear from the other side of the screen. These Goddesses really knew how to easily get on her nerves...

"Oh but I am. I have realised the potential this girl has, as you have all failed to. I intend to bring out the strength in her." She stated, Maria brightening at what she took as praise.

"That doesn't matter! You didn't give her enough time to recover from that experience. Not even a week, and you are forcing her-"

"I wasn't forced!" Maria stated loudly, cutting off Nepgear's rant. The Goddesses then looked at Maria, surprise painted on their faces.

"It's true, I haven't entirely gotten over what happened to me. But that all wouldn't have happened if I wasn't so weak! I don't ever want that to happen to me again, so when Neptune told me to meet her outside Virtua that night, I felt like running away would only hurt me, Md not her. I gladly took her up on her offer because I didn't want to be weak anymore! And another thing, why are you so restricting of her? As far as I can tell, Neptune is a good person at heart, if not a little misunderstood on the outside. Sure, she may do some... questionable things. Sometimes downright wrong things, but she has never done them with malicious goals in mind! I guess she's just one of those people who think that the means justify the end, but as long as she doesn't do anything wholly evil, I dont see why you need to hold her down with a thousand locks and chains!"

The room was silent for what felt like years after Maria finished her speech. Even Neptune was somewhat surprised.

"...I see." Was the only thing Blanc said. Her expression, and the ones that all of the other Goddesses wore, told her that all of them were in thought. Especially Nepgear, who was no longer facing the camera.

"Well, now that you are here to speak to, I was hoping you could clear up a rather urgent pair of questions I have." Asked Vert, a serious expression making itself present across her face.

"Very well." Responded Neptune, approaching the table while Maria stood by the door.

"Now, I have two very important questions to ask you. One, I sent a member of my SMD to Lowee in order to assist in your search, and she has failed to report in for the last few hours. Her hair is red and in twintails, and she wears some sort of hybrid maid and nurse outfit. Have you seen her? And if so, what happened to her and her Leanbox soldier supporters? They have not reported in either." She asked. The Good Hunter swore mentally. 'They wont like this.' She turned to Maria for a moment, who was now hiding her face.

The Good Hunter sighed, and turned to face them. "Yes, we did indeed have a run in with them." She responded. Vert narrowed her eyes ever so slightly.

"Perhaps you could shed some light on their condition?"

"One soldier dead, melted to slag. Another critically injured, missing a leg among other injuries. The operative had only superficial wounds, but was unconscious."

Looks of shock crossed all of the Goddesses faces. Noire then spoke up.

"...Melted to slag? By what?" She asked.

"A Beast, and a powerful one at that. A Watchdog of the Old Lords. And you needn't worry, Maria dispatched it." She gestured to Maria, who was still standing by the door.

"A Beast?! One from Yharnam?" Inquired Nepgear.

"No. One from the deep chalice dungeons." Responded The Good Hunter.

"...Chalice Dungeons?" echoed Blanc. "You never told us about those."

"I had no reason to, and I still have no reason to. A Beast is a Beast, no matter where it comes from." She stated.

"So you did leave things out." Concluded Noire. Her only response was a huff of indifference from The Good Hunter.

"Anyway, There is still one more question to be answered. Since you and Maria were the ones they were searching for, I imagine such an event would have been reported, yet nothing has come up. Perhaps you could tell us why?" Vert asked. The Good Hunter shrugged, and pulled out the red, sparkly phone she nabbed from the Operative as she was called. Vert visibly tensed up.

"That phone is... Why do you have that?" She asked sternly.

"Well, I was in need of a map as I had lost my way. Maria told me that any phone should come with a map, and your Operator just so happened to be in possession of one."

"You said she was unconscious. Did you..." Vert trailed off, looking at The Good Hunter with eyes that could kill.

"While she was tending to the critically injured soldier, I simply delivered a chop to the back of her neck. I grabbed her phone and went on my way. As far as I know, she is still there now."

She could practically feel the anger radiating off of the Goddess next to her as she said that.

"...You not only knocked out Cave, but you also possibly got a soldier KILLED?!" Blanc said with her voice rising The Good Hunter turned to face her, and was met with a blinding light.

That could only mean one thing, and The Good Hunter instantly made to draw her weapon, and just in time too. As soon as she got her second hand around it, she found herself blocking a crushing blow from a large, glowing blue and white axe. She quickstepped away, and laid her eyes on the now transformed Blanc. She seemed to ignore the cries of protest and worry from the other Goddesses, and raised her weapon once again.

"I can put up with a good amount of shit, but ever since you started pulling things like this my patience has well been fuckin' dwindling. It's time for someone to teach you a lesson!" She shouted, charging the girl again, swinging her axe with insane speed. The Good Hunter deftly dodged with practiced precision, however. She then leaned forward and sent her body soaring forward in a stab, which was blocked by the flat blade of the glowing axe. It was then that Maria made an appearance, and shot her pistol at the Goddesses hip, tearing through her body and coming out the other side, eliciting a hiss of pain from White Heart, before she retreated. The Good Hunter then saw something that made her frown.

The bullet wound was quickly regenerating, and within seconds was completely closed.

The Good Hunter turned to Maria. "Get out of here. I will face this Goddess by myself."

Maria looked shocked and conflicted for a moment, before silently nodding and running out the open doors, closing them behind her.

"Saving your little apprentice, eh? I don't blame you. She'll be ashamed to be your student once im done with you!" Taunted White Heart.

The Good Hunter responded by pointing a glowing, moonlit blade at the Goddess. "Shut your ugly hole and face me." Was all she said. This seemed to strike a nerve, as White Heart bore her teeth and charged savagely.

It was easy to see that this strike was completely savage and had no planning put into it other than the desire to smash whatever was in front of it, and it was easily interrupted by The Good Hunter, who shot a silver bullet into White Heart, causing her to lose balance and stumble, before recovering just in time to block an overhead slash from Neptune's blade. The Loweean Goddess reacted first, delivering a hard, solid punch to Neptune's gut, causing her to lose the air inside of her and stumble back, losing the grip on her Evelyn. White Heart took immediate action, and sliced the thing in half before it even hit the ground. The Good Hunter responded to this by swiftly reaching into her pouch and throwing a fan of poison-tipped throwing knives at her, none making full contact. However, the leftmost dagger caught her in the middle if her dodge, and scraped her hip. That would have to be enough. The Good Hunter went on the offensive.

She began by sending a beam of moonlight energy at the Goddess, which seemed to catch her off guard as she didn't fully dodge it and got caught in the right leg as she attempted to panic dodge, cutting a large gash in it. The Goddess yelped in pain, and looked at the quickly regenerating wound on her leg. She looked back just as The Good Hunter was charging for another strike.

The Good Hunter found herself on the receiving end of a full force swipe from the axe, courtesy of an enraged and savage White Heart.

The Good Hunter flew across the room and slammed into the wall with a loud Thunk, Squish and Crack. Falling to the ground, she heard another loud crack. She tried to get up, but couldn't.

Her legs were annihalated. Eviscerated. Completey destroyed.

She used her barely stable arms to flip herself over, and was met with a bright flash as her vision blurred ever so slightly.

'Dammit... Am I going to die again?'

Through her messy vision, she could make out the shape of a reverted Blanc looking her over.

'I guess it's true. These Goddesses are no pushovers.' She thought, and was about to close her eyes when she felt... Something. It felt like something that had been chained up inside of her had finally broken free, and was now pumping raw energy throughout her entire body. And she could feel it, too.

Suddenly, and for no discernable reason, The Good Hunter began to float, and small, thin strands of black and red began to materialize and float around her, all moving below her waist. Looking down, she noticed that there were thousands, maybe millions of the things in place of her legs.

Then, suddenly, an explosion of black smoke blew outward of Neptune, which seemed to blow Blanc away.

She felt an unimaginable surge of power. It felt like she could take on every single Great One at once, and come out with maybe a few scratches at most.

Looking down, The Good Hunter's eyes widened. Her legs were back, and there were thin, black lines running down and across them in random patterns.

Then, she felt everything covering her body dissapear as if it was never there. In moments the black smoke began to flock to her body, and solidified. In seconds the girl was clad in jet black armor, with spikes jutting out from the shoulders, arms and other places. Her new legs had been covered in thick, black boots with what looked like razor sharp teeth decorating the heels. ď Her chest, however, was barely armored at all. Instead there was a thick bra and-

Had she grown? Her body seemed much more developed...

Well, The Good Hunter attempted to pry at the armor, but it would not come off. It was as if it had been melded to her skin.

Then, her back exploded in pain. It was as if she had been doused in oil and lit ablaze. She grit her teeth and hissed at the sudden, immense pain. And then, she felt her back explode outward, and the pain was gone. Sweating slightly, The Good Hunter turned to look at what the hell had just happened, but long, Mauve hair got in her way. Despite initial surprise, The Good Hunter quickly brushed it out of the way and looked at her back.

"What the hell is happening to me?!" She loudly said, her eyes laying on large, leathery wings sprouting from her back.

The wings were pale yellow on the inside, and black on the outside with large thorns lining them. Her body seemed to naturally know how to use them somehow, and she unintentionally beat them a few times, causing her body to raise.

Then, as if this entire situation wasn't as batshit enough, The Good Hunter felt a sudden light weight in her right hand.

Looking down, she was met with the sigh of a very long sword.

The blade of the sword was much like the blade of her Holy Moonlight Sword, except it was a single edged blade, and was a waning blue. The blade seemed to slightly thin as it got closer to the guard, and was slightly curved in the same style of her old, curved sword. The guard was sturdy and white. The handle of the weapon was quite long, and obviously meant to be handled with two hands. Cautiously bringing her other hand over, she noticed how the armor on her hands caused artificial claws to jut out from her fingertips. She frowned, if these were supposed to be useful in combat, they would certainly make handling a weapon more difficult. Sighing, she brought her other hand to the hilt and grasped it. It was much lighter than she was expecting, and found the weapon very easy to swing.

The Good Hunter felt a small grin creeping up on her features. She felt the raw energy surging through her frame. Could she face the Goddesses like this?

She couldn't finish her thought, as the surrounding, swirling smoke got sucked inside her body, and dissapeared. The Good Hunter was now revealed to the world, wings beating.

She quickly found herself on the ground, and on her new legs. She looked to Blanc, who was, again, transformed and holding her weapon at her side.

"You have access to HDD? How? You're not a Goddess anymore." She stated firmly, slowly rising.

"HDD? I haven't a clue as to what that means, perhaps you could enlighten me?" The Good Hunter said in a smooth, somewhat sultry voice as she beat her wings and began to rise as well.

"Those wings, that armor... That can't be HDD. What the hell did you do?!" She aggressively asked, stopping her ascent.

"Im not sure myself. But, I have legs again. I cant really complain about that, now can I?" She replied, stabilizing herself as well.

"Either way, we still have a battle to finish. Unless, you would rather give in?" The Good Hunter asked, raising and pointing her blue blade at White Heart.

White Heart audibly "Tsk'd" and suddenly flew towards The Good Hunter at an insane speed.

In any other situation, The Good Hunter would not have been able to react fast enough. In this new body, however? She brought up her blade to block it in what must've been less than a quarter of a second. A loud Clang resonated throughout the chamber, and the entire room, maybe even the whole Basilicom. Neptune then struck, retreating away from the blade lock and slashing upward, which was stopped by the large axe blade.

'Hm. This may not be as easy as I thought it would be.' concluded The Good Hunter, who barely managed to dodge a sudden diagonal slice.

The battle seemed to rage for ages.

Neither combatant was able to land a solid hit. They were equally matched. Any attack one threw at the other was blocked, dodged or deflected. But, they both were tiring. That much was obvious.

Blanc threw another heavy slash at Neptune, which was blocked by the flat of her own sword. Neptune then threw a random, weak kick in a desperate attempy to throw Blanc off balance. Her foot made impact with her stomach, but did little other than cause a small stumble.

That small stumble would have to do.

Taking advantage of the slim opportunity, The Good Hunter raised her blade with blinding speed, and brought it down in a savage diagonal slice, making solid impact with the Loweean Goddess and sending her rocketing into the stone wall behind her, sending her straight through and causing a large chunk of the wall to follow suit, leaving a hole of impressive size behind. Quickly following, The Good Hunter's eyes landed on a reverted Blanc leaning against a tree, heavily breathing and sweating. Quite frankly, she looked exhausted.

Lowering herself to the Goddesses level, The Good Hunter smirked evily. This girl had gotten on her nerves easily, and she didn't serve her any purpose. What reason was there to keep her alive?

Approaching the slightly bloody girl, she looked at her face. The girl's expression was as stoic as ever. She was rock solid.

The entire world seemed to cease all activity as The Good Hunter looked down at the girl, the sun beginning to set.

Blanc let out a light, pained chuckle. "You always were the strongest one of us..." She bitterly admitted. That caused a pang of pain to shoot through The Good Hunter's head, before she quickly shook it off, and raised her blade.

"You should feel special. You're the first one that will taste my newfound pow-"

"Shut yer trap with the monologue. If you really think you can kill me, get on with it." Blanc snapped, somewhat surprising The Good Hunter. Neptune stared for a moment, before sighing. She raised her blade, and moved to stand in front of Blanc.

She brought her blade back, and swung it down, aiming for the girls head. The blade sliced through the air, pleading to taste the bl-

 ** _"Imagining a world with two Neptunes gives me a migrane."_**

The Good Hunter let out a pained scream as her blade got stuck in the tree behind the grounded Goddess. Her brain felt like it had exploded, lit on fire, and poisoned all at once. She felt like her entire head had exploded, and if she couldn't hear her pained screaming, she would've thought it had.

She felt the power leaving her, and she felt her consciousness leaving her body. She could hear fast approaching footsteps, and what sounded like the calls of an alarmed Maria. How much of that did she see?

Eventually, she could only see black. And her hearing cut out.

 **Unknown Time/Date/Place.**

The Good Hunter suddenly opened her eyes, and shot up. She frantically looked around, and saw that she was in a bed. Calming herself, she sliwed her breathing and looked around the room she was in, and recognized it as Nepgear's room.

Great. It seemed that no matter where she went, she would always end up back here.

Hearing a slight snoring, she turned to the right edge of the bed to see a sleeping Nepgear. Even after all this, she still wanted to make sure she was okay? Well, she had to admire her determination. In the left corner of the room was Maria, who was sleeping in a chair. Looking out the window, Neptune discovered that it was actually quite late. Probably midnight if she had to guess, moonlight lighting up the room. It was actually quite serene.

The Good Hunter sighed, a low rumble coming from her stomach. When did she last eat?

She got out of bed, only to stumble in surprise.

Other than the bandages covering her chest and limbs, she was completely undressed. Where had her clothes gone? Surely they hadn't been destroyed in that transformation. And where were her weapons for that matter?

She sighed, and began to look around the room. Her weapon was, oddly enough, easy to find. It was resting against the foot of the bed. Her clothing was proving to be more elusive, however. She checked the closet, and only found multiple copies of the same dress that Nepgear was currently wearing. There was no way she was putting that disgusting color palette on her body.

And so, with only the sheathed sword over her shoulder and bandages to protect her, she left the room. Perhaps she would find her clothes elsewhere.

 **I felt like I did something wrong with this chapter, but I cant put my finger on it. Please tell me what you guys think about it. And I have something else for you. Lately I have been thinking of a story I will do when this inevitably reaches it's conclusion. And I got thinking on a certain Idea, tell me what you all think.**

Garryson trudged through the thick forest. He was used to forests, but he never really went off the established paths, which the Ancient Forest were abundant in. Teostra's Castle brushed against the plants he walked by, singing them. He would be lucky if he didn't start a forest fire at some point. Seriously, he could deal with giant flying steel dragons, or giant red death dogs, he could deal with that. The Research Commision never prepared him for THIS! They never prepared him for a portal to whisk away the Lunastra he had spent days tracking, and after he had JUST killed it! So of course he went in after it, he was so close to making that crown!

So. He appeared in the middle of this thick ass forest next to the dead Lunastra. He carved it, and then took the time to realize that he probably hadn't made the smartest choice. Mainly because he had no idea where he was or how he got here.

So here he was. Hours later and he was still trucking through this Diablos Damned forest! And as if that wasnt enough, he had encountered Monsters that shouldnt exist. At all. First there were translucent blobs of blue jelly with the faces of a dog, which somehow managed to propel themselves towards him. Then, he encountered a small pack of monsters which were, what he could best describe as, flat square monsters that seemed to only exist when looked at from two directions. And could only LOOK two directions. When he got back to the RC, Guild, Whatever, they would eat this up.

Then, he saw a shining beacon of hope: A treeline. The end of this infinite hell of a forest. He began sprinting to the end.

"Fuckin' finally. I don't have to deal with the shit that should've stayed in Eorz-"

He came to a sudden and abrupt halt as he came out of the forest. He widened his eyes behind his Kulve Taroth helmet, as he gazed at the impossible sight ahead of him.

It was miles away, many many miles away, but it was there.

A city. The biggest city he had ever seen, and at the epicenter of it was a gigantic purple and white tower that would give Zorah Magdaros a run for his money.

"You've gotta be Kirin me..."

 **Misplaced.**

 **A Monster Hunter/Hyperdimension Neptunia crossover.**


	11. A Bloodied Goddess 11

**After reading a few reviews and taking some time to think, I reached a realization.**

 **These past few chapters, I haven't been putting as much love in. Essentially, I have more been trying to reach a deadline then ensure the quality of the content.**

 **Well, that stops now.**

 **From now on im going to try to put more 'oomph' into these coming chapters. Make them more interesting to read. Put more dialouge and 'touchy-feely' moments in. (God I wish there was a better way to say that.)**

 **But don't leave yet! If you think im making this into a laid-back slice of life show, you've got another thing coming. There will still be blood. Oh there will be _blood like never before_ in these coming chapters.**

 **So. Sit back, and enjoy this new installment.**

 **Planeptune Basilicom. Sometime past midnight.**

Neptune silently stalked the hallways of her younger 'sisters' Basilicom. The futuristic, purple look of everything still didn't sit exactly right with her, but retrieving her clothes was currently at the forefront of her mind. Currently, she was silently turning the living room inside out. So far, not any luck. Why was it that her weapon was so easily found, yet her clothes proved to be so elusive? It did not sit well with the girl. She had found her pouch in the living room on the couch, which she didn't even realise was missing until she saw it. Needless to say, she quickly made for it and slung it over her shoulder.

Bah, she shouldn't focus on secondary things like wondering _why_ her clothes were gone, it would do her more favors to wonder _where_ her clothes had gone.

She groaned in a slowly heightening annoyance as she tore the last cushion off of the couch. She could safely say that they were not in the living room.

She turned and made to leave, perhaps it was all in 'her' room?

She turned and began to walk down the hallway. Well, she would have began walking if a floating book person hadn't suddenly appeared in her path.

Yes, it was just her luck that Histoire was out and about. And she had the luxury of running into her, which certainly didn't do any favors for the heart of the tiny, for lack of better word, 'Fairy, as she sounded off with a surprised yelp. Neptune stopped her advance, and looked at the floating girl, who seemed to have calmed herself, and was now approaching Neptune with a calmed, but somewhat worried expression.

"Ah, Neptune. Since you are awake and moving, I would assume you are well?" Inquired Histoire, stopping in front of the nearly naked Hunter.

"Do I look unwell to you?" She blandly asked, any discernable emotion vacant from her voice.

"Well, with scars like those, I would imagine anyone would have a problem or two."

Scars? Oh, yes of course. Someone here must have bandaged her, so naturally they would have bore witness to the plethora of scars lining her chest, limbs and some other areas. It must've been a grisly sight for the softies around the place, especially since most scars were created from jagged, filthy claws and usually stretched across her entire body. Yes, she could imagine why a sight like that would be cause for alarm. Well, to them anyway. In reality, the girl was completely fine. The scars no more than echoes of the hunt.

"You need not to worry yourself with something as trivial as a few scars. Either way, it should not matter to you. Now, move out of my way. I need to find my clothing."

Neptune moved to push the floating girl out of her way, but was stopped when she suddenly moved in front of her. Adding to the annoyance of The Good Hunter.

"Your clothes are currently in the washers. Unless you wish to wear soaking wet clothes, I would recommend you wait."

Was she attempting to presuade her into not wearing wet clothes? She would have to try much harder than that. Wet clothes were nothing to her compared to the trials she faced during her hunt.

"Wet clothes are nothing to me. Take me to these 'Washers'." She ordered more than asked. The fairy shook her head, and turned around.

"I believe you are ignoring something much larger, Neptune. During your battle with Blanc, im sure you remember?"

She sighed. Of course she remembered that, how could she forget? She tapped in to some sort of power, and she could suddenly hold her own against, and even defeat a Goddess in single combat.

"Yes, I do remember that. I fail to see why you are so interested. Your Goddesses can tap into a power similar to mine, so why am I suddenly such a big damn deal?" She turned to face Histoire, her expression letting some of the pent-up annoyance run free, which did not seem to go unnoticed.

"Neptune, you've been a big deal since you returned for many reasons. But this is unprecedented. Only the current Goddess of each nation can access HDD, and you are no longer a Goddess. Therefore, accessing HDD seems to be exactly what you did, but from the description of Blanc, what you transformed into was nothing like your past self's HDD. And in her own words, looked like: "A demented hellspawn had taken residence inside the HDD and made it it's home, decorations and all".

The Good Hunter leaned against the wall, crossing her arms. "And I should care about this why?" She asked, sending an unapologetic glance to the fairy girl.

"Well, I would simply like to know the nature of the power you used. After that, there is another matter of importance we must discuss: your memory." Explained Histoire, who had suddenly somehow managed to don a pair of incredibly odd looking spectacles.

Ugh. Why couldn't they just leave well enough alone? She did not consider her memories to be even a secondary objective of hers. In fact, she did not care in the slightest when it came to regaining her memories. Especially if they were of this place. God, if she could remember some of the things she probably did here, she would be sick with herself.

"And why would you suddenly assume that I would know what that power was?" Asked Neptune, sarcasm lacing her voice. This caused a strangely large bead of sweat to form on Histoire's forehead.

"You mean to tell me you do not know? That makes things... Considerably more complicated. Well, for now you should get back to sleep. I believe it would be prudent for me to tell you this now as well. For the past few days, The Goddesses and some of your past Human friends have been planning a series of events to jog your memory, which will consist entirely of you visiting the other Nations, and the people there. Althought it seems you have already become fairly familiar with Lowee."

The Good Hunter groaned and rubbed her forehead. "And what if I say no to all of this?"

Histoire's glasses suddenly changed, and became quite reflective despite the lack of light. "Well, if you refuse, the four Goddesses have all agreed to make you come by force if necessary. You may have been able to fight off one, but all four would be an impossible challenge, even with someone with your abilities."

The Good Hunter clenched her fist tightly. As if they weren't flexing their power on her enough with all the restraints, they were now forcing her to attend some useless trip. Fantastic.

"Whatever. Im going out for a walk, and you wont stop me." Neptune then turned to walk to the elevator, being met with, surprisingly, no protest.

Well, for at least a little while.

"He died, you know." Histoire suddenly said, causing Neptune to stop and turn.

"Hm? Someone died? What's new." Neptune said remorselessly, and was about to turn when Histoire spoke again.

"Not just anyone, Neptune. That soldier that Cave was tending to. He would have likely survived had he gotten proper medical care soon enough, and had Cave finished applying first aid, he could have gotten that care. But she never finished the first aid, and by the time Cave woke up again, he was already gone." She explained, a tinge of sadness in her voice. The atmosphere in the room suddenly got much heavier. The Good Hunter remained silent, a faint echo of something pulling at her heart. She quickly dismissed it and began walking again.

"When you go to Leanbox, be wary. Cave will likely be less than pleased to see you." Histoire said as Neptune boarded the elevator and sent it to the ground floor. While riding the elevator, The Good Hunter sighed. She didn't know why, and it was very much unlike her to think this, but she began to ponder if she could have gotten out of that without taking the phone. She had gotten lost before, and could usually find herself on the right path again without the use of a Bold Hunter's Mark. Perhaps the presence of Maria or the sudden attack of the Watchdog had thrown her mind for a loop?

No, No. She was better than that.

Before she could continue her thought, the elevator doors opened with a *ding!* and she stepped out. Ignoring the slackjawed look of the male attendant, she continued out of the Basilicom and made way to the holo rail. Stepping aboard, she breathed in the cool, night air. It felt somewhat soothing, being outside at night. She was much more comfortable in the dark. Stepping off the rail, The Good Hunter began to wander. Not having any particular destination, she walked. Ignoring the shocked stares of passersby and the occasional store employee, she walked.

The Good Hunter wasn't usually one to pay attention to these kinds of things, but with little else to pay attention to, she found herself realizing just how captivating the city looked at night. Where she stood now was probably the greatest example. The carved stone road, surrounded by tall, lit up buildings on both sides with pure, untainted moonlight pouring from the sky and lighting up the road. It was something one would never see in Yharnam.

But of course, something must always come to ruin it.

"Well well well, look at what we have here boys." Said an unknown voice. Turning to the source, came a man of average size and stature brandishing a flail. A weapon The Good Hunter found to be sorely impractical. She heard a chorus of laughter all around her, and from the shadows emerged several more people. Four men and three women, all of rather unimpressive figure. The all brandished their own small arms ranging from daggers to small swords. One woman even had what looked to be an incredibly compact and odd looking gun.

'She's the prime target.' Concluded Neptune as the shady people approached her.

"Well, you seem to be somewhat lacking in clothing. That's a real shame, you could attract the wrong crowd." The man said with a shit-eating grin.

"Im giving you one chance to back off. If you waste it, expect to be nothing more than a smudge on the stone ground." Stated The Good Hunter, as she drew her sword with one hand. She was briefly surprised, since when had she gotten so strong? She wasn't even struggling to hold it. Well, she wouldn't complain about a sudden advantage. She held it at her side, her short, lilac hair blowing in the breeze.

"Hoo, a fiesty one aren't ya? Well, I wont go over the fact that you are horribly outnumbered, and cut to the chase. You can come with us and do whatever we tell you to, or we gut you like the useless meatbag you are." He said, trying to sound intimidating. A pitiful attempt, really. And The Good Hunter had heard enough of his nonsense. Reaching into her pouch with practiced precision, she pulled out two throwing knives. In a second, she had thrown the first one at the supposed leader, hitting him in his left thigh. Immediately, she turned to face the girl with the gun, who was moving to aim it. She never got there, however. As she soon found a throwing knife flying into her eye and lodging itself inside her head, killing her instantly. Only six left.

Unsurprisingly, the remaining six charged her at once, but did so out of sync, leaving gaps in their charge. The closest one was holding two daggers, and lunged at her with a laughable attack. It was easily parried by the girl, who slid the blade across his during the attack, causing sparks to fly into the mans eyes. Screaming in pain, he didn't get the chance to stumble back before to entire blade of the Holy Moonlight Sword entered through his stomach anf impaled him, carrying his organs through with it and mangling them into an unrecognizable mass of organin matter. Turning quickly at a war cry, she carried the body of the first thug on her sword and used it as an improvised shield, which proved quite effective in stopping the blade of an arming sword. Acting in less than a second, she kicked the body of the thug off her sword, causing it to land on the second thug and trap him underneath.

A pair came into view out of her peripheral vision, and The Good Hunter turned to engage them. They were the remaining women of the gang, and each held a small sword and shield. Running to engage them, The Good Hunter planted her foot in the stomach of the left girl, who was unprepared for such an underhanded attack, leaving the right alone and ripe for the slaughter. Blocking an overhead strike from the sword, Neptune moved to react with a quick stab. Which was surprisingly blocked by the girl.

'Perhaps this one actually has some fighting skill.' Surmised The Good Hunter, who grabbed the blade of her weapon with her other hand and slammed the guard of her weapon into the chin of her foe, eliciting a yelp of pain from her. However, she recovered rather quickly and suddenly surged forward, tackling Neptune to the ground. She held her sword above her head and brought it down with the intent to stab her heart, but the blade only tasted cold stone as Neptune rolled away from the strike, and delivered a hard kick to the back of the girls knee, knocking her off balance. She then delivered a rock solid punch to her nose, creating a loud crack as it broke. She screamed and fell back, allowing The Good Hunter to stand. Hearing the footsteps of the other girl who had just recovered, she kicked up the girls arming sword and fluidly moved under the easily telegraphed sideways swing, and sliced across her stomach, disemboweling her as she fell to the ground, screaming in pain. She then turned to the now weaponless girl, who had raised her hands in a fist, now holding her shield in her right hand as a tool to augment her punches. Clever...

Neptune acknowledged her Holy Moonlight Sword on the floor, and disregarded it as she walked over to the girl, raising her own fists.

"Come, then. Fight me." She taunted, causing the girl to roar in rage as she suddenly charged forward, and began to charge an underhanded slam. The Good Hunter frowned, the girl seemed too smart to telegraph her attacks like this. Something must be up. She got into range, and made to punch. Neptune moved to block it, but the attack never came. Instead, she felt the other fist rocket into the side of her head, and send het stunbling back.

She feinted. This girl wasn't your average thug.

Smirking, The Good Hunter turned on a dime and caught a quick jab from the girl, pulling her forward and slamming her elbow into her jaw, sending her sliding off her feet and falling on her ass. She recovered, and wiped her mouth. Blood was beginning to shed. Even though The Good Hunter knew she would win this, and the other girl was fighting a hopeless battle, she felt she would give her foe the courtesy of an honorable final battle. Approaching with raised fists, Neptune reared her right fist back, which the girl moved to block. Unfortunately, she was not prepared to recieve a sudden kick to her knee, bringing her down. The good hunter reared back, and slammed her fist into the downed girls lower jaw, sending her sprawling on her back, blood gushing from her nose and mouth. She heard the gurgling, and knew she was dying. Moving to grab her Holy Moonlight Sword, The Good Hunter approached the girl and grinned. Nothing was said, and the only sound was the sickening shick of a sword cutting through flesh, and into a heart.

Backing away from the now dead girl, she began to notice a whimpering. Turning the face it, she found the last thug huddled in a corner, trying to hide.

A coward. She hated cowards.

Scowling, Neptune sheathed her weapon and began to power walk over to the whimpering man. He suddenly screamed and got up to run, but was stopped when a throwing knife cut through his blue pants and entered the back of his knee, sending him crashing to the ground in a heap. Approaching him from behind, The Good Hunter grapped the top of his head and lifted him with her left hand, and pulled the throwing knife from his knee. Bringing it to his throat, she ignored his disgusting pleas for mercy, and carved a clean, deep laceration in his throat, dropping him ti the floor as he choked and gagged on his own blood.

Moving away from him, there was only one more person to concern herself with. The man in charge. Walking over to the man who was still struggling to remove the knife from his thigh, she slammed her foot into his stomach so hard, she thought she heard a _crack_ when his ass hit the ground. And judging by the grit teeth an hiss, she was right.

Slamming her foot on his stomach, she unsheathed her blade. Gleaming in the moonlight, she held it with both hands and placed it above her diaphragm.

"Well, you have made my night much more entertaining." She said with a grin.

"Who... What the hell are you?" The man asked, fear in his eyes as he looked at the figure above him.

"Oh, im just a Girl. You dont deserve to know more." Neptune said darkly, and began to push the blade down. But the man resisted, grasping the blade and trying to push it away. The Good Hunter couldn't lie, it was cute.

The next 30 seconds were agonizing, the only sounds were the struggle of a dying man desperately trying to stop the blade slowly cutting into him, his hands being reduced to goulash meat as it continued to cut throuth. Eventually, the mans resistance got weaker. And then weaker again, the sounds of bones cracking and flesh slicing as the large blade cut through him. Once it reached about three fourths of the way through his body, he seemed to either give up or die, as his mangles hands loosened their grip on the blade and fell to his side. Eventually, her blade stopped moving. It had hit the stone beneath the man, Pulling her blade out, she sheathed it and exhaled. She had gone on this walk tonight thinking nothing would happen, but she was pleasantly surprised. Oh, and she would rather not have to annoying voice of that Goddess hound her for killing these people, so she needed to find a place to hide-

Ah, that large green container with a black top would do perfect.

Over the course of the next minute or two, she transported the corpses of the thugs and dumped them into the container, closing the lid. She exhaled contently, and began her walk back. Hopefully with the bodies hidden, she wouldn't get found out. And she only had a little bit of blood on her, and it was on the bandages.

Well, she actually didn't even _need_ to wear the bandages. She wasn't hurt, and public image was incredibly low on the list for her.

So, she took her blade and sliced the bandages, cutting them loose. Now there was no blood on her at all. Of course, the catch was she was completely nude. But that did not matter to her. If anyone tried to make a move on her, she could easily cut them down.

And so, she walked back to the Basilicom with nothing but the blade on her back anf the pouch over her shoulder.

 **Planeptune Basilicom. 45 minutes later.**

The Good Hunter was currently riding the elevator up. If people gave her uncomfortable looks before, they were giving her mortified looks now. Some people even fainted at the sight of her. Probably the sword she held her side.

Oh well, it didn't matter. She was inside now, so nobody would constantly look at her. Which suited her just fine. She found being the center of attention annoying.

With a familiar *ding!* Neptune stepped through the open doors, and into the hall. Looking around, she found it to be completely vacant. Not a person or Fairy in sight. She sighed, and began walking back to the room she woke up in. If Nepgear didn't find her there when she woke, she would probably throw another childish fit. Which The Good Hunter could, quite frankly, do without. Entering the room. She did not expect to see Maria up and looking around the room rather frantically. She looked over at her, probably drawn by the sound of the door opening, and her face suddenly turned as red as the blood moon.

"M-M-M-Miss Neptune! Why are you naked!" She squeaked, turning away as she covered her face. Great, she's like the others as well.

Her face was void of emotion as she sighed. "My clothing is currently in the 'wash', and I had no reason to be wearing the bandages as I was uninjured." She explained, which seemed to not comfort Maria at all.

"W-Well you shouldn't walk around completely undressed! Thats not decent!" Exclaimed Maria, who was now shaking her head.

"Being decent isn't something I really need to worry myself with. I'd much rather worry about staying alive, now move. I need to return to rest."

Saying nothing, Maris moved away from the bed, not even peeking at Neptune as she crawled in and closed her eyes. She heard Maria sigh, obviously exasperated, before she heard her footsteps move to the door and the sound of it closing.

Well, at least The Good Hunter could slumber in peace.

Slowly, Neptune began to lose her consciousness, and eventually drifted into a light sleep.

 **The Next Morning. Time N/A.**

Sunlight was pouring into the room, causing Neptune to squint as she opened her eyes. She slowly opened her eyes to see Nepgear still asleep at her bed, although she was stirring. Sitting up, The Good Hunter found that she was still undressed. Not a big deal, she would just ask Histoire if her clothes were out of the 'wash' yet. She was about to slide out of the bed, when Nepgear's head began to rise. She blinked a few times and shook her head, before slowly turning her head to Neptune.

"Hey...-Yawn- Sis, you awake yet..-" Nepgear stared with wide eyes full of shock at her sister for maybe a full second, before, like Maria, her face turned a deep red and she looked away covering her face.

 _"W-WHY ARE YOU NAKED NEPTUNE?!? WHERE ARE YOUR BANDAGES!?"_ She screeched, irritating The Good Hunter, and probably everyone else within a 10 mile radius.

"I already explained this once, and I will not again. You can handle seeing some skin, you are a Goddess. You are around those horrid outfits that you wear when transformed every day." She reasoned, sliding out of bed as she slung her sword over her back and her pouch over her shoulder.

"Come with me! We're getting your clothes NOW!" She said desperately, grasping The Good Hunter's forearm and tugging her. She pulled her arm free in a second, but followed her either way. If she was leading her to her clothes, she wouldn't complain.

They entered the elevator together, and Nepgear chose the floor labeled "Laundry". The elevator rocked, and down they went.

"...You never told me why your bandages were off. Also, what was with those scars?! Poor Compa and I almost had a heart attack!" She exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air.

"I took fhe bandages off because I was not injured. As for the scars, a story for another time perhaps." She said, not even glancing at the young Goddess. Even though she wasn't looking at her, she could tell she was pouting, and looked away. The door opened, and it revealed a small room with two machines. Netgear approached the left one, and opened a door on the front. She then began rifling through the various articles of clothing, towels etc. Eventually she pulled out her Hunter Maria clothes and custom hood, thrusting it in the direction of The Good Hunter.

"Dress yourself already! We can't have you visiting Leanbox while completely naked!" She exclaimed. Neptune obliged and took her clothes, slipping them on as Nepgear looked away. It did not take her very lont to fully dress herself, and Nepgear turned to face her, sighing with a relieved expression appearing on her face.

"Alright. Come on, we have to get ready for everyone." She said cryptically as she entered the elevator, Neptune following her in.

"Everyone? Do you mean the Goddesses?" Inquired Neptune as Nepgear selected the Goddesses floor.

"Not just the other Goddesses. IF, Compa and a few others will be coming as well. It's all part of the effort to get you your-"

"Im well aware of the pointless struggle you are going through to have me regain my memory. Let it be known I have no intention of regaining my memories of this place, and am content as I am."

Nepgear said nothing, instead opting to look at the ground dejectedly. The rest of the ride was rode in silence until the pair arrived at the floor, in which they both made their way to the outdoor deck, Maria and Histoire shortly joining them.

They mostly sat in silence as they soaked in their surroundings. For a while, it was just them. Until Neptune began to hear a small crowd of voices from far below. The other three did not react at all, and The Good Hunter could probably only hear then due to her hightened senses. Looking over the deck, she saw four people. Two she immediately recognized as IF and Compa, the other two were complete strangers.

One had short red hair, and wore an equally short shirt and pair of pants. She carried a strange case with her.

The other had long, dark blue hair and wore a long black coat, although it looked improperly worn from here. These must be the people Nepgear had been talking about.

Well, if they were here, it was only a matter of time before the Goddesses got here. Looking to the sky, she sure enough saw two distant approaching figures. She couldn't tell which ones they were from this distance, but they could only be Goddesses.

She sighed and leaned back in her chair, Holy sword next to her.

This day would not be fun.

 **I only fully realized this when I was halfway through this chapter. I had written this in under a day, something I hadn't done since chapter four or five. I guess I got really motivated and pushed to do better and make a better chapter than what these past few have been. I tried to even it out this time around, cool it with the nonstop action and tense atmosphere and have some small talk while not leaving you bloodthirsty Beasts completely unsatisfied. Tell me if you guys prefer this style, and thanks for reading!**


	12. A Bloodied Goddess 12

**I think it would be prudent for me to get this out of the way first: I made a booboo.**

 **So if you couldn't tell, the other two characters beside Compa and IF at the end of chapter 11 were, indeed, Nisa and Falcom. I thought it would be reasonable to include two other past friends of Neptune for the events of this chapter, and they made the most sense considering the Nation they were in.** **Well, a few hours after that chapter went up, I was just chillin out. Minding my own buisness and playing Secret Lab with some friends, when it hit me:**

 ** _I don't know how to write Falcom or Nisa. I know who they are (Nisa much more than Falcom), but writing them completely IC would be beyond me._**

 **So. After that, I took it upon myself to quickly pull up the Hyperdimension Neptunia wiki and read up on the pair of them, and from what I gathered, Nisa is pretty much how I remembered her. A warrior of Justice with an energetic, bubbly attitude who is very self concious about her breast size.** **Falcom is humble and honest, while also being competitive to an extent. She is also a musician and warrior.**

 **I hope to god I got that right because _that's exactly how im about to write them_.**

 **Apologies if they act a bit OOC, I frankly have no idea what the hell im doing with these two.**

 **So... Enjoy?**

 **Planeptune Basilicom. 3 minutes after the end of last chapter.**

Neptune sighed as she heard the glass double doors open, before turning around. As she predicted, the quartet was there and walking over to the four on the balcony. Compa and IF visibly stiffened at the sight of Neptune, although IF's reaction was much more pronounced. It would seem that Compa disregarded her fear, and jogged lightly over to Neptune. Neptune sighed, and looked over the balcony at the bustling city. While the girl was a tad annoying, she didn't hold immense power over her and gloat about it like the Goddesses. She felt like she could level with the Gamindustri Humans much more easily than the Goddesses, even if both shared generally the same view of her.

If Neptune had to be honest with herself, she totally thought that they saw her as a caged animal. Just waiting to lash out. The thing was, these Goddesses wouldn't even be nearly as insufferable if they did two things:

One. Learn to see things from her perspective. Neptune saw it in their mannerisms and the ways they spoke to her. They didn't see the person she was now. They saw a twisted version of the person they once knew. A broken item that could be ' _fixed_ '.

Fixed... Heh.

The second thing: Learn some _fucking respect._ They all seemed to have this fucking god complex when they spoke to her. If they wanted her to do something and she didn't do it, they would force her into it. It seriously made her want to let the Beasts have at their cities and watch from the sidelines. If it weren't for the fact they were basically unkillable, she would have definitely have made an example out of one of them. Probably either Blanc or Nepgear.

"Hey, Nep-Nep! How have you been doing?" Asked Compa, bringing Neptune out of her mental rant. Looking over to Compa, she figured she would do one of the few people that didn't make her lose her shit a courtesy. Neptune reached for her helmet and removed the leather strips keeping it in place, before pulling it off her head. She set it by her feet and shook her head a bit, before facing the girl.

"I've been fine." Was her curt reply. It was void of any emotion, but didn't have any edge to it.

"Oh, I see. Well, since we were going to take you to Leanbox to jog your memory, I figured I would bring along some of your old friends!" She exclaimed, making way for IF and the two girls, both of whom looked ecstatic.

Sweet Great Ones, she already felt the migraine coming... As if this beating, cloudless sunlight wasn't irritating enough.

"Ah-Ha! Neptune, Im so glad to see you're okay! Deep down, I knew you were alright! A true hero of Justice would never die!" Said the first, blue haired one. Her voice was loud, booming and confident. Great.

"Hey, cool it miss Hero of Justice. You heard what the other two said, right? Be chill with her. But im gonna have to agree, it's great to see you again Nep." Said the one with red hair. Neptune looked between the two of them blankly, and then at everyone else on the balcony. They all seemed to be looking at her expectantly, with the exception being Maria. She was still looking at the view.

Turning back to the pair, who were still looking at herher, Neptune said with her usual dead eyes and equally empty tone:

"Who are you?"

In less than a second, everyone on the balcony seemed to fall forward on their faces. It happened so incredibly quick and was rather loud. Not knowing how to react, Neptune simply looked around at the now grounded people on the Balcony, before glancing at Maria, who was also looking at the scene before her with an equally bewildered look.

"Well... We were warned she had lost her memory..." Said the redhead as she, and the others began to stand on their feet.

"Yes, Yes I do remember that... But that tone of voice was quite unlike Neptune." Complained the Blunette.

"I told you about that as well, didn't I?" Claimed IF, who was holding onto the railing of the balcony as she stood.

"Well, I guess it doesn't matter now. Im Falcom, wandering musician and warrior. The blue girl next to me is-"

" _Nisa!_ " Said the blue haired girl, cutting off Falcom abruptly. "Warrior of Justice and savior of the people!" She exclaimed.

'Warrior of Justice'? She sounded like a child wanting to play hero.

"Heh... Warrior of Justice, huh? How foolish." Neptune said as she turned away from them. She didn't see what happened after that, but from the silence of everyone else and the utterly confused and mortified sounds which were probably coming from Nisa, they probably weren't expecting a response as cold as that. Neptune seemed quite skilled at taking a happy and upbeat thing, and running it into the fucking ground whatever it was.

She heard a few whispers, before hearing the voice of Nisa yet again.

"Neptune! While I do not at all agree with your, frankly horribly sour outlook on the subject, I will refrain from arguing with you so the situation does not get worse!" Proclaimed Nisa. The Good Hunter turned to face the girl who was now looking at her with determined, sparkling eyes. No, literally sparkling eyes. There were sparkles in and around her eyes.

Despite that, something that was once thought impossible happened.

The smallest, faintest ghost of a smile tugged at the corners of Neptunes mouth.

"Well, you are definetly smarter than most others on this balcony." Delivered Neptune, which caused bewildered looks to appear on most faces, and a look of triumph to appear on Nisa's face. Compa leaned closer to IF and whispered, although it was ineffective due to The Good Hunter's heightened senses.

"Did... Did Nep-Nep just compliment someone?"

Before IF could reply, the sound of all too familiar wings buzzing came from behind, accompanied by the sounds of feet touching the Balcony.

Damnit, she had just gotten done talking to someone who _WASN'T_ a complete shithead and had _IMMENSELY_ surpassed her expectations. Now she had to deal with these gloating, ignorant flying _FU-_ "Neptune, I am glad to see you are well." Said the smooth voice of Black Heart. Turning to face the pair, she was met with the sight of Black and White heart, who had just landed on the balcony. If she was being truly fair, she had to say that Black Heart and Green Heart were considerably less of a headache to put up with, and she would take listening to either of them any day over that ignorant prick White Heart or the clingy, downright obsessive Purple Heart.

Still, that didn't mean they were good in her eyes. Neptune would have gone on another mental rant as to why all of the Goddesses were prissy fucks, just different _levels_ of prissy fuck, but she needed to cool down before she lost it and showed these Goddesses how much of a Beast she really was.

"Yes, it brings me no end of anger to see you two here." She replied coldly, which visibly put anyone except Maria on edge. The girl seemed to have gotten adjusted to Neptunes personality and could easily put up with her words. Good, she would make a fine Hunter once again.

"...I see. Well, once Vert finds her way here we shall make for Leanbox. Until then..." Black Heart then erupted in light, reverting to her more Human body in the form of Noire.

"Let's go over the path one more time. Nepgear, Blanc, if you'll follow me."

"Noire, why dont you just relax? We've already gone over the damned path at least ten times." Countered White Heart, who passed Neptune. She gave the girl a harsh glance, which the Hunter repaid in full and maybe even a bit more.

"Nonsense. We need to be as prepared as possible, and when we are dealing with Neptune we must be prepared for anything to happen." Reasoned Noire.

"Come on Noire, just rest a little. It will do you good!" Reasoned Nepgear.

Neptune sighed, and rubbed her temples as she turned and walked over to Maria, who was currently sitting in a chair and looking over the city. It would do her no good to listen to such a trivial arguement, which she had already tuned out.

"The city really is pretty from up here, yeah?" Stated Maria as Neptune pulled up a chair and sat with her.

"Hm." Was the only response Maria got, which did not seem to put her off in the slightest.

"Man, I always knew there was some heat between you and the Goddesses since the day you rescued me. But after what happened in Lowee, im only now just realizing the magnitude of this. You really arent on the best of terms with them, are you?" Maria asked, to which Neptune scoffed in response.

"That is an atrocious understatement." She replied. "It seems every other day they do something to restrain me, and if I dont abide by their idiotic rules, they threaten to do so with force. And, despite how much more powerful I have grown as of late, I do not think myself capable of defeating all four of them. Not yet." Explained Neptune, clenching her fist in front of her face.

"Why is there so much tension between you and them anyway?" Inquired Maria, met with a slight growl from Neptune, which caused her to tense up and make her back off a bit.

"They see me as someone I am not. They think I am not a Hunter of Yharnam, but an amnesiac little girl who _thinks_ she is a Hunter of Yharnam. And because of that, they don't know how to treat me. Believe it or not, I would most prefer to have all of them out of my hair entirely, and live out my life as a beast hunter. Keeping the lives of other people safe. But no. They are too blinded by their past to recognize the fact that the person they once knew is _dead. Killed by Yharnam, The Hunt, all of it._ "

Her little speech had left Maria without words, and it was silence for a few moments. The only sounds the faint arguing behind them, the wind blowing and the bustle of the city.

"...So why don't you tell them?" Asked Maria, eliciting a light, empty chuckle from Neptune.

"I already have. I told them to their faces that the person they once knew is now dead, and look at the result." Neptune stated, which Maria "Oh'd" at.

"...Maybe you need to show them proof?"

"Proof? Hm..."

In all honesty, it was not a bad idea. Previously she had only shown them her Holy Moonlight Sword. There were much more gruesome and horrifying tools she could show them to get her point across

She could show them a few items from the Hunt and convince them that the old Neptune was gone, but that did have some problems. Items alone couldn't solidify the thought in their minds that she was a new person, and finally get them off her back. She openly sighed, and rubbed her eyes. She felt like she would need to give them a speech of some sort. That would be fun...

"Hm. You may have given me an idea, Maria. I thank you for your insight." Neptune stood and left a slackjawed Maria behind.

Walking over to Noire, who had finally been defeated in her arguement, She shoved her shoulder with no regard for her safety, as she was quite close to the railing..

"Hey, what's the big id-"

"When will Green Heart get here?" Neptune blandly asked, earning an exasperated sigh from Noire.

"She said that she had left the same time we had. Considering the distance from Planeptune to Leanbox, I would say twenty minutes at the latest."

Neptune lightly nodded and turned away. She dug into her pouch, and grabbed two things:

The Augur of Ebriatas, and the Beast Claw. She hoped that she wouldn't have to use the claw, but kept it on her just in case. Perhaps as a last resort. The Augur however, she would definetly use. That would very likely help her case.

Now, it was time to think. Her speech would need to resonate with all of them somehow. Perhaps she could bring something up important to old Neptune?

She paused for a moment. Reaching into her pouch, she wrapped her hand around her snapped blade. She really only kept it as a memento at this point, and her attatchment to the broken item had degraded over time. She could perhaps destroy it in front of them? She would figure it out.

Well, there was still much planning to do. And not nearly enough time...

 **13 Minutes Later...**

"Well it's about damn time." Neptune heard Blanc say off to her right. Looking up, she heard a familiar buzzing. She sighed in annoyance. She hadn't finished her planning yet, but if it came to it she would simply improvise. Perhaps knock some of them on their asses to prove a point or two.

"Ah, as per usual Blanc. Your amount of patience is equal to the amount of skin on your breasts."

 _"THE HELL DID YOU JUS-"_

"Please, you two! Now is not the time to argue!" Came the voice of reason in Nepgear. Perhaps she is useful for some things.

"Thank goodness... Alright. Now that we are all here, we can get ready to go! You guys," Nepgear proceeded to point at the four Humans. "Are you coming along?"

"I don't have work today, so I can come!" Stated Compa, who bobbed around happily.

"Unfortunately, I got Guild work I need to do. Hope you all have fun, though!" IF stated as she turned and began to walk back through the glass doors.

"Im in the same boat as IF. Been working on a song recently, and im so close to finishing it that I dont wanna put it off anymore. I wish you all good luck though!" Said Falcom, who took the same path as IF.

"Justice must be delivered all across Gameindustri! If I can help those in need outside of Planeptune, It would make many people happy! So yes, I will accompany you on this voyage!" Said Nisa proudly, who walked over to the other Goddesses.

"Im coming too." Said Maria, causing the Goddesses to look over in slight surprise, before they all nodded gently to eachother.

"Alright, then. Thats four of you for the four of us! Perfect, we all have someone to carry."

Oh, _no way in hell._

At that moment, the Goddesses that were still in Human form transformed into their Goddess forms.

"Noire, you take Maria. Blanc, if you could take Compa and Vert take Nisa, I can take Nept-"

"I will be flying myself." Neptune coldly stated. Here goes nothing, if she can get them to let her fly herself, it will be a small first step into asserting her... well, her freedom if one could say.

"Huh? Why? Wouldn't it just be a waste of energy for you? Besides. i am capable of-"

 ** _"I. Am. Flying. By. My. Self. I will not take any fucking objections."_** She said with a voice so cold it could freeze magma, and a tone so sharp it could cut stone. She visibly saw _everyone_ on the balcony recoil. Even Maria seemed to be taken aback.

"V-Very well, then..." Nepgear said with a defeated and somewhat frightened tone.

Neptune than began her transformation.

Just like last time, it began with black smoke swirling around her, although this time it appeared and swirled at a much faster rate. She felt the energy begin to surge through her as her gear was torn away from her body, being replaced with the exact same armor as last time, her longsword in a sheath over her back. And just like that, it was finished. The black smoke dissipated, and she was ready to go. Beating her wings once, she could have sworn she heard some distant whispering after her transformation, though she simply wrote it off.

At that moment, all of the Goddesses put a hand to their head and stumbled. Blanc even hissed in pain.

"Fuck me... Just got a real nasty headache..." said White Heart.

"Yes... That was quite unpleasant. Sounded like the souls of the damned were trying to claw their way into my head." stated Black Heart, who shook her head and looked at the now transformed Hunter, freezing up for a moment.

"Neptune, those eyes of yours are quite unpleasant to look at..." She stated, averting her eyes. The other Goddesses stole a quick look, before also looking away.

"Here, have a look." Stated Maria, who picked up a hand mirror on one of the tables and tossed it to The Hunter, who looked at it to view her own face.

Many of the features were as if her normal body had matured a few years, but those eyes definitely stood out. Murky, pale white lines spidered across her slightly larger Pupil. Her iris was now a deep red, and the color seemed to bleed out of her eye if one looked at it long enough. The Sclera was possibly the most disturbing, as it now seemed to be... Cracked? There were many crevices in her Sclera, and they each seemed to be leaking a black substance that trailed straight down and went into her lower eyelid. However, she could see just fine. If not better.

Maybe she could get some lines in here?

"Hm. Further proof that this Neptune you seem so keen on reviving is dead. A fact you seem quite intent on ignoring."

That seemed to resonate differenly between the Goddesses. Nepgear remained totally silent, but turned to completely face away from her. Probably in denial.

Blanc seemed to clench her fist, nothing more.

Noire sighed and ran her left hand through her hair, looking at the ground with sad eyes... Hold on.

Was there acceptance in those eyes?

If there was, the Goddess made no effort to make it known.

Vert slumped her shoulders and shared a similar expression. Perhaps those two were more noticing of her plight than the others? Another reason why they were superior then.

"Very well, I suppose we should get this over with." Stated The Good Hunter dryly, as she began to beat her wings, the Goddesses following suit as they picked up their passengers.

"Alright then... We should head to Lastation first. It's closer." Reasoned Noire, getting nods if agreement from the other three. They all turned eastward, and began to make their way, the Hunter beside them.

"Hey, Neptune? I heard that when you were in Yharnam you were a Hunter. What's it mean to be a Hunter? What things did you-"

Nisa's question was cut off by an earth-shaking roar. A shame, too. She would have to answer it at another time.

"The hell was that? Whoa-" Blanc yelled, looking around before another roar resounded throughout Planeptune, accompanied by the screams of civilians.

She recognized that roar. In all honesty, it was more of a high pitched screeching than a roar. And if that hadn't tipped her off, the sudden large burst of electricity bursting between some buildings was enough for her.

"What the Goodness just happened?" Asked Nepgear to nobody in particular. It was then that The Good Hunter began to darkly laugh.

"Heh... Ha... _A Darkbeast!"_ Was all she said as she shot to the location of the sudden burst of electric bolts. She was on the scene in less than five seconds, arriving just in time to see the Darkbeast crunch down on a poor, unlucky soul. And it seemed he wasn't the first, as there was a concerning amount of bodies littered around the place, many with burns covering their body. Probably from the Bolt energy these Beasts gave off.

 **"NO!"** Well, it seemed she wasn't the only one that saw that person get munched up, as the distraught cry from Nepgear was soom followed up by a sudden shot from her weapon, blasting a fairly large hole through the Darkbeasts' tail. It would have hit dead center with the things chest, but these things had a reputation for being quite quick.

The Good Hunter smirked, before being enveloped in smoke. She wouldn't need to be in her Goddess-countering form for this, she would much rather fight this Beast in her normal form. The smike receded, and she looked down as she made to pull her sword from-

 _'Oh fuck why am I naked-'_

Neptune immediately leapt back and assessed the situation. Currently the Goddesses, Compa, Nisa and Maria were dealing with the Darkbeast, and to be frank it didn't look like they needed her help. While the Darkbeast seemed to have an odd innate resistance to their weapons, they were still dealing considerable damage, with chunks of bone amd fur flying off every other second.

Right, so it seemed like whenever she reverted from her... Huh. She didn't have a name for her other form. She would have to come up with one.

HDD was already in use by people she detested.

'Ravager Heart?'

Yeah, that sounded good.

So whenever she returned from her Ravager Heart form, she would turn out naked. And from where she was standing, her weapon and clothing was currently set down next to where she reverted. Easy enough to obtain. She surged forward and snatched her gear from the ground, before retreating again and quickly dressing, being completely covered in 25 seconds flat. Speed dressing was something she had to learn how to do on the hunt, as she was practically always in danger and changing armor to best fit the situation was a practice she had taken up. Howeverx everything in Gameindustri did not hit very hard at all, so she could get away with wearing lighter armor. Which suited her just fine, as it meant faster movement.

Grasping her Holy Moonlight Sword, she channeled arcane into the blade and charged to meet the Beast alongside the others. Currently, The Beast seemed on its last legs. The Goddesses were all fine, if not still a bit shocked. Compa was busy giving Nisa some first aid, who seemed to get hit by a savage claw. Maria was probably doing the best out of all three, and was still in the battle doing damage.

Approaching the Darkbeast, Neptune was intent to get in the finishing blow. So, using a sudden, last ditch attempt to kill the Goddesses via an electrical blast, the Beast successfully managed to cause a short retreat from the Goddesses. Surging in before any other could, she leapt forward and brought her weapon ever her head, before slamming it down on the skull of the Darkbeast, getting the blade stuck deep in the bone. It cried out in pain, before Neptune twisted the blade slightly and forcefully, creating a very loud * _CRACK!*_ As a very pronounced line ran up and down the beasts skull, signifying it had been cracked in half. The Beast fell limp almost immediately, and she heard sighs of relief from the others.

"Didn't think you would still be such a big killsteal, Neptune."

The Good Hunter ignored Vert's remark, and pulled her sword back, revertint the blade and continuing to sheath it inside the scabbard on her back. She expected the body to remain just like all the others, and was about to turn away when it burst into an explosion of glorious Beast blood, covering her, the Goddesses, and pretty much anything and anyone else in range.

Feeling the warm, familair liquid coat her, she didn't immediately notice it when some landed on her teeth. But it did hit her soon enough. "Hum... Been a while since I've tasted Beast Blood. A bit saltier than I remember." She said, turning to face the entourage behind her, most wearing mortified and disgusted faces.

" _TASTE IT?_ THAT STUFF IS IN YOUR _MOUTH?_ ** _GROSSGROSSGROSSGROSS-_**

Nepgear began to yell rather loudly. Everyone, with the exception of Maria and Compa for some reason, began to loudly complain to eachother about being covered in beast blood. It was actually a rather amusing sight to see their plight.

Turning around to face Maria, Neptune thought she caught sight of someone standing atop a building nearby, but when she turned to see it she was met with nothing.

'Must been the rush of the sudden Hunt getting to me.' She reasoned, before walking to Maria. "You performed well today."

 **Atop that building, a few seconds later...**

"So, The Good Hunter made it here too. And perfectly alive and well, too." Said the person as she walked across the rooftop, garbed in a cape of crow feathers.

"And here i thought we had found the last of them when Henryk showed up. The others will most definetly be surpised to hear about this." The woman said, before leaping from the sunlit rooftop.

 **Got another idea for a story. Take a look. Keep in mind, im just giving you guys views of some ideas I have. None of these have a 100% chance of being written.**

 **Site 19**

 **SCP-3546**

 **Object Class: Safe. Previously Euclid.**

 **Sentient.**

 **Regenerative.**

 **Description: SCP-3546 appears to be a young girl with lilac hair, and a height of approximately 146 centimeters tall, and weighs 37 kg. Subject's personality is best described as bubbly and happy, and likes to make sarcastic remarks and "Roasts."** **Subjects eyes are also grossly out of proportion, causing many on site staff to refer to her as an "Anime girl."**

 **Subject wears a large white and purple hoodie, along with two identical hairpins of the same color palette. Subject refers the items as "D-Pads."**

 **SCP-3546 seems to have an insurmountable love of pudding and video games.**

 **SCP-3546 is capable of entering a form she refers to as "HDD." When asked if the subject was referring to Hard Disk Drive, she laughed and shook her head. Responding with: "No, you goof! _[REDACTED]_**

 **In this _[REDACTED]_ form, the subjects physical appearance and personality change drastically. The subject appears to age somewhere between eight and ten years, and takes on a more serious personality. Subject is capable of reverting the transformation, but was at first confused, stating that she should not be able to access such an ability without the usage of _[REDACTED.]_**

 **Subject is also capable of materializing a weapon at will. This weapon is always in the form of a Japanese Katana, and is capable of the same actions a standard Japanese Katana would be capable of. In her _[REDACTED]_ Form, she is capable of the same action, however the weapon is noticeably larger and quite futuristic in appearance, having neon lines running down it and a purple metal appearance. Composition of the metal making up the weapon is unknown.**

 **Special Containment Procedures.**

 **SCP-3546 Is to be contained in a standard 5x5x5 room, and must have one electronic outlet. The containment cell is to be watched with one guard stationed outside the containment cell at all times. SCP-3546 Is to be supplied with one Playstation 3 video game system, a refrigerator which is to be stocked with pudding once every week, and a coloring book** , **alongside standard Humanoid SCP Items.**

 **Notes: SCP-3546 was discovered in _[DATA EXPUNGED]_ in the year 20 _[DATA EXPUNGED]._ Initially, subject was quite adverse to containment, and would often attempt to breach containment stating " _[REDACTED]_ Needs me!"** **Subject is vulnerable to gunfire of all times in her standard form, and reacts to pain exactly how a standard human would.**

 **In her HDD Form, subject has a much higher pain tolerance and is capable of surviving through sustained fire from assault rifle rounds for _[REDACTED]_ Minutes. Subject is also capable of extreme tissue and organ regeneration, in a similar vein to SCP-096. Conventional arms are also deemed to be unable to successfully terminate SCP-3546, however the subject will falter after long periods of sustained gunfire.**

 **However, subject seems to have come to terms that _[DATA EXPUNGED_ Would be impossible. After this, subject became much more cooperative and understanding of containment, changing her status from Euclid to Safe.** **Subject enjoys the company of others, and a single D-Class personnel is to be sent to her containment chamber once every two days.**

 **As it stands, SCP-3546 Is allowed to freely roam to facility should it desire to. However, permission must be granted by Dr. _[DATA EXPUNGED]_ And SCP-3546 Must always be accompanied by at least one armed guard.**

 ** _Further access of this file requires 05 Clearance._**

 **Would you contain a Goddess?**

 **An SCP Mythos/Hyperdimension Neptunia crossover.**

(Sorry if that SCP File was bad, first time I've written anything like that.)


	13. A Bloodied Goddess 13

**Wassup laddies.**

 **Like I said in the update, I took a break and hot damn did it feel nice.**

 **But, im back again. And I have a brand spanking new chapter for yall Bloodthirsty Beasts. Featuring, drumroll please...**

 **Nah, I wouldnt spoil that for ya. Enjoy you Beasts!**

 **Planeptune Basilicom. Three hours after the Darkbeast attack.**

"Again." Stated Neptune, kicking the Rakuyo over to Maria, who was currently taking a knee. They had been training nonstop since the attack, and thanks to Nisa, they now had a room to train in. It irked her to an extent thay Nepgear failed to mention the existence of this training room, but at least someone bothered to tell her at all.

"Yes Ma'am." Said Maria shakily, before standing to her feet. Neptune had decided to pull out a few of the stops this time, and it was very clearly showing. Maria was bruised and cut, her outfit tattered. Neptune on the other hand, was completely untouched. While Maria had gotten close to landing a hit by using rather underhanded and unorthodox tactics, that was it. Improvements, but not nearly enough to best her.

Since it was just Her and Maria at the Basilicom, they basically had free range of the place until everyone else came back, which wouldn't be for at least another hour. They had all gone to the funerals of those civilians that had been killed by the Darkbeast. An honorable and respectable thing for leader to do, but Neptune had seen her fair share of coffins. Still, that didn't mean that they didn't try to make her go. It was only until she punched a hole clean through the metal Basilicom wall that they had backed off.

She had no idea where the strenght behind that came from, however... That punch did hurt like hell, though. But the way all color drained from their faces was more than worth it. She was certainly beginning to assert her independence.

Maria followed up with a feint attack from above by moving to make a short, swift thrust with her dagger. Neptune quickstepped back, grabbing the dagger arm and pulling the arm towards her, knocking the Hunter in training off balance and into the solid pommel of her blade, perhaps a bit too hard. There was a resounding * ** _thunk_** * as the metal made contact, and the girl almost instantly fell on her ass, out cold.

Neptune sighed, this had happened once before and it did frustrate her, but she could kind of understand. Her training regimen was by no means light, and that was to begin with. Her current regimen would be torture to many, but she was steadily crafting Maria into a warrior. Not like before, but still a major fighting force. She lifted to girl over her shoulder, and placed her in the chair off to the side, a cup of orange juice on the table next to her. Neptune decided to let the girl rest, setting a hard candy on the table as well. The candy was given to her by Compa a few days prior, and she was given two. She tried one, and it was disgustingly sweet. She spit it out almost immediately. She figured that Maria would take more kindly to it, since she was more bubbly and happy-go-lucky in her free time.

"Well, The Good Hunter. It has been a while." Said a strange, yet chillingly familiar voice. She instantly turned around, weapon drawn.

"Who's the- Urk!"

She instantly stumbles back, her eyes widening in shock.

Standing before her was a man. He was fairly tall, and wore a long, black coat with matching boots. Only one man wore garments like that.

His hat also set off a red flag in her mind. There was only one man in Yharnam who wore that hat. But that was impossible... She killed him. She knows she did!

Neptune begins to slightly tremble.

That axe... That axe... Its the same god forsaken axe! And that gun!

 ** _How can this be?!_**

"Father.. Gascoinge..." She says, gritting her teeth.

"Yes, indeed. I must say, you being here among the rest of us was-"

 **"I'LL KILL YOU!"**

Neptune screeched, and charged at him with everything she had. Gascoigne frowns, but he was prepared it seemed. He immediately brought up his gun and fired, stopping Neptune in her tracks. She had been parried. Gascoigne moved to capitalize, and does something that seems to hurt more each time.

He tore inside of her, gripping her insides before tearing them out, sending her back in a spray of ichor. She gritted her teeth, before standing. Organ loss was usually of little concern to a Hunter, it was only until they took annihilating amounts of hurt that they went down. A single visceral attack wasn't enough to put her down, but it still hurt like a bitch.

"Tsk Tsk Tsk, The most powerful Hunter is but a novice if they lose themselves in rage. I thought you of all people would know that." He said with a toothy grin, tossing her organs aside as she thrust a blood vial inside her, mostly healing all damage done to her.

"You... Im not done-"

"Oh shut your whore mouth, im not here to fight." He said, exasperation in his voice as he pulled Neptune to her feet.

"...How the _hell_ are you here, Gascoigne?" She asked, keeping her weapon out.

"Well, im afraid that is just as much a mystery to me as it is to you. And all the others."

"O-Others?..."

"Oh, yes. Theres me, Djura, that odd Valtr fellow, my good friend Henryk, that horrid Brador, even that church filth, Alfred. Among others. Heh, even Eileen showed up, but she isn't around often."

"D...Did you say E-Eileen?" Repeated Neptune, stuttering.

"Oh yes, in fact she was the one who told us about your existence here. Quite the observant one, that old crow."

Neptune backs up, and falls to her knees. A surge of memories coming back to her.

 **Flashback. Yharnam Grand Cathedral.**

 _Neptune walked up the Grand Cathedral steps, holding her Kirkhammer sword close. She couldn't shake the feeling something bad was going to happen. Then again, something bad was always happening in this place. But, she tried to stay positive. Her positivity had gotten her through some bad situations, and it would get her through this as well! But, deep down she knew. The areas around her was killing this bubbly personality. She just hoped she could get out of here fast enough to go home, whereve-_

 _'Oh my god, is that Eileen?!'_

 _Neptune breaks into a sprint as she spots the figure sitting in a pool of blod atop the stairs. She skids to a stop and rests her weapons aside, putting her hands on Eileen's shoulders._

 _"Eileen! Eileen, are you okay?!" She nearly shouts in a panicked voice. Eileen coughs a bit, before looking up._

 _"Oh... Is that you again?" She says rather weakly._

 _"Yes! Yes it's me, Neptune! What happened?!" Neptune frantically asks, reaching for a blood vial before realising she had not a single one left._

 _"Im afraid I've made a bit of a blunder... Im just going to take a short rest.. Oh, dont worry. Im not as bad as you might thin- *Hack, cough*. She coughs up blood._

 _"H-Hold on! You're gonna be just fine!" Neptune fumbles in her pouch for any healing items, anything at all that just might save her._

 _That is, until Eileen grips her shoulder._

 _"O-Oh, dont be foolish.. I made a mistake, and now im paying the ultimate price.. One last time." She says softly, almost as if trying to comfort the girl._

 _"N-No! You cant die! Please!" Neptune begins to cry, as she tightens her grip on Eileens shoulders. Through this horrid nightmare, Eileen had been one of her only friends and was in a way, a mentor to her._

 _"Y-You must listen close, girl... That thing still lies in wait... I cant do this, and neither can you... So leave, and let me rest..." Eileen rips a badge from her armor, and drops it in Neptunes pouch._

 _"E-Eileen.. No, Please god dont do this.." Neptune is heavily crying now._

 _"My god, look at you... Crying like a newborn. Are you certain you are a hunter? Well, no matter... You must leave. now.. That thing *cough? cannot be stopped. Dont *Hack* let it.. get.. you... too..."_

 _Eileens grip loosens, and her hand falls to her side._

 _"Eileen... Eileen, no! Snap out of it!" Neptune desperately says, shaking Eileens body in a vain attempt to wake her up._

 _"Eileen... Eileen! Eileen please wake up! DONT DO THIS!" Neptunes voice cracks as she begins to sob. Her eyes widen as Eileens head lolls to the side, and her arms drop to her sides._

 _"No...*sob* E-Eileen! *hic* w-why?..." She leans forward, and loudly bawls onto Eileens dead shoulder for minutes. Those minutes turned into many more, until her cries eventually began to cease. And she just knelt there, leaning onto Eilerns dead corpse._

 _Then, something changed._

 _It was as if something had snapped within the bery fiber of Neptune's being. As if the tattered remains of what was her psyche had been ripped to pieces and replaced by something wholly different._

 _She slowly rose, taking the Blades of Mercy in her hand as she rose._

 _"You... You killed her..." She said grimly and quietly, her chipper and light voice replaced by something much more sinister. She approached the Bloody Crow of Cainhurst, who also drew his weapon._

 _It was at that moment that everything changed._

 ** _"IM GONNA TEAR OUT YOUR GUTS, AND SPLATTER THEM ON THE WALLS!"_**

 **Flashback end.**

"Neptune... Hey, Neptune! You in there?" Sounded a familar voice. Neptune tuned back into reality, to see Gascoigne vanished and Maria standing over her, a large bump present on her forehead.

"Y-Yes, I am fine..." Neptune said, a small quiver in her voice as she stood. Thankfully, this seemed to go unnoticed by Maria.

"Okay, thank goodness! You were kneeling there for twenty minutes after I woke up! I dont even know how long before that!" Exclaimed Maria. Neptune shook her head, and looked at the clock.

It was an hour and a half later.

"Oh, by the way~ I found this weird note on the ground adressed to you. I didnt open it because that would be disrespectful." She stated, handing her a note. She grumbled something, before opening it.

 _Hey. You seemed to fall into a vegetative state in the middle of our talk. And no matter how many fingers I chopped off or how many times I slapped you, you simply wouldn't wake. So I decided to leave. And dont get your hair all ruffled, I gave you more blood. You have fingers._

 _The rest will be revealed in due time, just have patience._

 _-Gascoigne._

 _'Gascoigne, next time I see you I will be sure to finish you off.'_ She thought darkly, before pocketing the note.

"Are the lily livers done mourning the dead yet?" She mercilessly asked.

"Firstly, ouch. Might want to have a bit more tact. Secondly, no. But they should be getting back in ten minutes, and they texted me to tell you to dress nicely, since they were planning on going to a nice restaurant." She mumbled to herself after that, but it was half spoken and incoherent.

A restaurant. Fantastic.

Well, she was feeling a touch hungry, and as much as she wished it wasn't true, she was exposed to the news that pudding was rather unhealthy. So she couldnt live off of that.

"Very well. Your current garments will be passable, im sure. Let me change." She said before completely stripping in front of Maria, not displaying any shame as she retrieved her Cainhurst Knight garments.

Maria flushed red, before quickly turning.

"M-Miss Neptune, have you no shame?!" She asked rather dramatically.

"Shame is nothing I concern myself with." She said as she dressed herself in her royal Cainhurst garments. "If you are so bothered by seeing a bit of skin, then you needn't worry any more. Im dressed."

Maria sighed, and turned around. Stars instantly surrounded her eyes. "Woah! You look so pretty!" She complimented.

"If you say so. Now, come. We should wait for them upstairs if this is what they wish." She turned and stowed her Holy Moonlight Greatsword in its pouch. A large weapon would not be suitable for a session of fine dining, and she took the Blades of Mercy from her pouch, concealing them under her skirt. They were small, but no less deadly than a Kirkhammer. She began to reminisce about that weapon. It was one she was quite fond of.

"I didn't realize you had so many weapons, Neptune. Isn't just one enough?" Maria asked inquisitivly.

Maria's eyes widened and she stood back after that, as Neptune broke out into a boisterous laugh which lasted for twenty or so seconds, before she calmed down.

"Oh, my~ You still have so much to learn. If you only have one weapon, that keeps you predictable. Some Hunters prefer mastery of one, but I prefer experience in all." She stated, exposing her blades of mercy for but a moment.

Maria nodded, and seemed to contemplate her words of wisdom as they made their way to the Basilicom lobby. Hey, those people were fixing the hole she punched, good for them. At least some people were doing some good around this stinky-

Neptune slapped herself. Had she come down with something? She thought she was acting incredibly strange. Perhaps that flashback had triggered something? Bah, it was over and done with either way. They sat down on a bench, and Maria pulled out her phone as Neptune twirled a strange knife in her hand. A 'Balisong' was what the man at the store called it, if she remembered correctly. It was quite a uniquie weapon, and thats what pushed her to purchase it. This was her first time actually messing with it, since she usually found her time spent Hunting, putting up with the CPU's bullshit, training Maria or playing video games on occasion.

She wished another Beast would rear it's ugly head, that would be fun.

Although, she would rather it be in a remote area. She was slightly downtrodden after the earlier attack, when she found something that made her feel the closest thing to sadness she had felt since she arrived here.

 **Another Flashback. Aftermath of the Darkbeast attack.**

"Oh my god, thank you!" exclaimed a man who Neptune had helped out from under some debris.

"Yes, move along." She curtly said, moving on jn her search. Surprisingly, instead of bragging like she thought they would, the CPU's began to search for any survivors. And bodies. Thankfully, most people that weren't directly victimized ny the Darkbeast escaped with only an injury or two, but others...

There wasn't much left to bury. And she witnessed Compa break down in tears at the sight of a mangled man.

She pulled away at some concrete, seeing nothing. She moved to another pile, when something caught her attention in her peripheral vision.

It was a hand. A young childs hand.

She sprinted over to the pile and began to push away the debris. She had already accepted that this poor, unfortunate child had been killed, but she needed to retrieve his body for burial. Nobody, especially a Child should be left to rot outside a coffin.

She tore away the last rock, and she immediately fell somber.

It was a young boy. No older than seven, no younger than five. His head had been caved in, and he was likely killed instantly and painlessly.

She sighed sadly. "This is... very unfortunate." She stated quietly, leaning down to gently scoop up the boys body, holding him as a mother would hold their baby.

"Neptune! Have you found anyone?" Sounded off the voice of Nisa, who likely just turned the corner behind her. Great, she would have to deliver the news.

"I have rescued a few souls, yes. However, some were already gone. And this one... His life was cut short, and is a true tragedy." She somberly said, turning and showing Nisa the body.

Her eyes widened, and she loudly gasped, cupping her hands over her mouth.

"N-No... Is he?-"

"Unfortunately, yes. This boy has passed."

It didn't take long for everything to spiral from there. Nisa broke into tears, as did most other rescuers as they watched Neptune silently walk past them and to a nearby flowerbed. She was almost certain she could hear the distraught cries of Nepgear from somewhere around her as she set the boy down. At least until he could be transferred to a grave

She didn't feel much of anything other than slight sorrow. Anyone else would have cried, yet she remained stoic. She knew that she should feel immense grief for the loss of such a young life, but she didnt.

The Hunt had taken away her ability to.

 **Flashback end.**

"Neptune, they're here." Said Maria, nudging Neptune's shoulder as she stood. Neptune huffed, and looked towards the entrance, and sure enough, there they were, the most headache inducing party on the planet. Their faces were still rsther somber, some much more than others, a prime example being Compa. She really did seem to be far too emotional. She began to stand herself, letting out a grunt as she got to her feet.

"Hey you two. Thanks for waiting." Said Nepgear, her voice quiet and calm. "Wow Neptune, I didn't know you had such pretty clothes!" She complimented, gesturing to Neptunes Knight garments. She huffed, and gave her a sideways glance.

"There are a lot of things you don't know about me. Anywho, let us be on our way then." Neptune curtly stated, as she began to stride down the path, Maria on her heels.

"I took the liberty of reserving a table for us. It should be free when we arrive." Stated Vert, recieving nods of approval from the others while Neptune remained emotionless. The party boarded the rail, and began their trip.

"How went their burials?" Inquired Neptune with an incredible lack of tact, something Nisa seemed to wince at. She turned to Vert, who stepped forward to answer her.

"They were all peacefully laid to rest, I can assure you of that." She stated, recieving an empty nod from Neptune.

"I see. From what I've seen, it is only the most durable and powerful Beasts that have scampered their way into this place, so you needn't stress over smaller scale Beasts clawing their way into your precious cities." She stated, letting out an amused huff at that last part.

"I don't think I'll need to worry about them, anyway. That 'Darkbeast as you called it wen't down pretty easy." Noire overconfidently stated.

Oh god, Neptune couldn't keep it in after hearing that one.

"Snrk! Hmph! Heh... Haha-!" She was visibly struggling to contain her laughter. She knew that this Noire girl had far too much confidence in herself. But to have to audacity to call the Beasts of Yharnam nothing more than a minor concern?

"Nep-Nep?.. Your laugh is scaring me.." Quietly squeaked Compa. Neptune then began to calm down, beating a fist against her breast a few times.

"Hey, what was funny enough to get you to actually crack a smile?" Noire asked sarcastically, which seemed to drain any ounce of amusement from the girl as she gave her a sharp look.

"You Goddesses, always so confident in yourselves. You'll see soon enough, I can guarantee that." She said not as a threat, but more of a fact. Which seemed to only register with one person. Vert. Who, instead of going pale or mouthing off, simply narrowed her eyes and looked ahead in thought.

'I will definitely have to talk with this one more. She seems smarter than the other three.'

"Um... Our stop is up ahead!" Exclaimed Nepgear, silencing any voices against Neptunes claim as they all stepped off the rail and onto the platform, which they swiftly climbed down from. Nepgear stepped to the front of the pack of idiots as their leader, and looked at her phone, apparently looking at a sort of map.

"According to this.. It should be this way!" she stated, her voice more chipper than it should be. They began walking down the road, one which Neptune was familiar with. Soon enough, they ended up passing the path where she had encountered those thugs.

'Good memories...'

"Hey Neptune, you never answered my question." Suddenly stated Nisa, whom Neptune turned to answer.

"I dont recall you asking a question." She replied.

"The one before the Beast attacked? What does it mean to be a hunter?" She inquired. Now that was a question she was happy to answer.

"Hm.. I suppose it does not mean the same thing to every Hunter. One might say being a hunter means killing every Beast, another might say it means protecting others from what they cannot protect themselves from. But for me... Being a Hunter means you are willing to give up everything and everyone you once were, just to live through some hellish nightmare of blood and gore... 'Just kill a few Beasts... You'll get used to it..' was what my mentor said to me... And he could not have been more correct."

The walk was relatively silent after that as everything she had said sunk in with the others. It was only until they reached the restaurant and sat down that they resumed conversation.

"Wow... A few weeks ago, I could've only dreamed about eating in a place like this.." Stated Maria, starry eyed. And she was likely right. In her poor and weak state, Maria would not have been able to eat here. It seemed to be a very prestigious establishment, a place Neltune didn't imagine could exist in a place like Planeptune.

"Well, now you can. And you can order anything you'd like!" Stated Nepgear, shich caused Maria to begin to slightly drool. Well, until Neptune smacked her upside the head. She may have been a Hunter, but she still had manners damnit.

"Right, right.. Sorry, Miss Neptune." She apologized, earning a small nod from Neptune as she began to rifle through her pouch.

Compa winced. "That looked like it hurt, Marry. Are you okay? Nep-Nep can hit hard..." Asked Compa gently, obviously remembering how Neptune had ruined the metal wall.

"Oh yeah, im fine! One of the many things in Neptune's training regimen is pain resistance and tolerance! After you get stabbed with a giant sword, burned with a flamethrower or shot point blank with a gun about a hundred times or so, you can really easily ignore pain!"

Everyone's face drained of color, and if they were holding a utensil they dropped that. They all looked to Neptune, as if they were waiting to tell them that Maria was joking.

"...What are you all staring at me for?"

"S-She's not serious, right Neptune? You wouldnt stab and shoot her, right?" Shakily asked Nepgear, her voice quivering as she looked at her with eyes that screamed to tell her she was.

"...She hasn't died once yet, which is far past my expectations. Also, she exaggerated. The flamethrower was a single time. And she also left out the multiple poisonings." She said, as she began to pull something out of her bag. "It's not like she would die completely, anyway. Im fairly certain she would come back like me... Fairly certain, anyway."

She turned the bottle that she had retrieved around in her hand, inspecting it as chaos reigned in the corner of her vision, in the form of Blanc being restrained by Maria, Nepgear and a few others she couldnt see. Sniffing her bottle, the pungent scent of the blood cocktail flooded her nostrils, and her senses were calmed and dulled.

"-Will you ladies be having a beverage?" Asked a strange voicd which she did not recognize. Even though she hadn't heard the first part, she looked over and saw what appeared to be a waitress taking the drink order from a Blanc who was currently trying not to explode in anger. She ordered something called a 'Ginger ale.' The others ordered their drinks, varying from lemonade for Compa to red wine for Vert. The waitress skipped over Neptune once she saw she had her own beverage, something she found to be rather polite and a breath of fresh air, however small.

A few mintues of table banter passed with little involvement from Neptune, who was patiently waiting for the drinks of the others to arrive before she began. Some questions were sent her way such as: "How do you come back from the dead?" or "How did you get that huge scar on your face?", among others. Some she was willing to answer, although the answers she gave were curt. Others she didn't answer at all. Eventually, their beverages arrived and the waitress began to take food orders. Neptune herself ordered a mushroom soup, while the others orders ranged from hamburger to a 'grilled cheese.'

Once their orders were taken, the waiter left and the party began to sip on their drinks. Neptune popped open her blood cocktail, and chugged down a small portion. To her, the small was normal and appeased her nostrils. But, not a few minutes later, everyone at the table frowned and scrunched up their noses.

"Goodness, what is that putrid smell?" Questioned Vert as she shook her head.

"P-U! Smells like something got really sick..." commented Compa, as she plugged her nose.

It took a few more seconds of the others complaining before Nepgear seemed to put two and two together. "Neptune, do you smell anything bad?" She asked, glancing between her and the bottle on the table.

"I cant say I do, no." She replied honestly, before sipping her cocktail again.

Nepgear nodded, and shot a look at the drink in Neptune's hands. "Neptune, what are you drinking?" She asked curiously, as the others looked on silently.

"A blood cocktail." She replied. Most others, the usual exception being Maria, stiffened up slightly.

"...That's just a name, right?" She asked hopefully, but her eyes wavered as if she already knew the answer.

"Not at all. Why would it go by the name of Blood Cocktail if it weren't blood."

"YOU'RE DRINKING BLOOD?!" Said Compa loudly, perhaps a little too loudly as other patrons looked at the girl in confusion, prompting her to quickly sit down and speak in a more inside appropriate voice.

"NepNep, that is so dangerous! You could get a number of diseases from drinking blood! Please stop!"

"If a blade twice the size of your body impaling me wont kill me, then I've no reason to fear some puny disease. I've enjoyed many of these, and have come out fine. Keep off, girl." She muttered bitterly, before taking another sip.

"Neptune, please listen to Compa on this one..." Begged Nisa as she looked on, visibly concerned.

"Ive _already told you.."_ She silently began.

The party argued and chatted for a while longer and into the night as they sat and ate, Neptune being her usual stick in the mud self as the others called her, doing little to anger her.

Outside the building however, they were being watched from atop a building by a shadowy pair of individuals.

"Well I'll be damned, Gascoigne and the Old Crow weren't lying after all." Said one. He was a man, and his clothes were burnt and ashy. He reeked of gunpowder.

"So it would seem. I've yet to thank the girl for what she did for me. Perhaps when we decide to show her the way to our place I can do so." Commented another. His clothing was pale yellow, and spoke with a gruff voice.

The two looked at eachother, sharing a nod as they turned to leave.


End file.
